Rewriting History
by I've Got Nerve
Summary: Damon/OFC. What if Vampire Slayers actually existed? What if she was a seventeen year old girl, who was friends with Elena and company? Add in Damon and a time traveling spell and hijinks will ensue. Follows the events of vampire diaries, though I go slightly off canon with events to fit my story line.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, this is my new story. I realize it's not Supernatural or Twilight even though I have those in progress too, but this one wouldn't leave me alone so I had to write it to get it out of my head. LOL. Anyway, I'm not sure if this could be considered a crossover so I didn't put it in the crossover section. It doesn't have Buffy or any of the characters in it, though it does mention them a few times in passing. I do use the information from Buffy, like the training and the Watcher/Slayer stuff, like the fact that there's a Watcher's Council in Britain and they have a group of witches and things like that. If anyone thinks I should change it to Crossover I'll gladly change it.

That being said . . . I will not be focusing on this story a lot unless I get reviews stating I should continue fast. LOL. I still have the other two stories I mentioned to focus on seeing as I started those first and I know people are waiting for an update on those too.

Just a warning: My computer is unpredictable, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't work, so as I told my other readers, I update when I can, when it allows me to.

Now the reason I began writing this story is because I feel sorry for Damon. He can never get what he wants, so . . . That's where fan fiction comes in. I'm one of those people that can not stand Elena, I find her horribly stupid and for the most part it has nothing to do with her choosing Stefan over Damon. Damon's not perfect, I'm not biased, but he's not someone who's going to rip your head off when he feeds from you either, unless he's pissed off. LOL. Anyway, in the show, I root for Damon/Elena, but since this is fiction, I'm writing in a character who will not berate him for being a vampire and giving into his vampire urges. Now people have told me my OCs seem to fit in seemlessly like they belonged there anyway; hopefully this is like that.

Another warning: My stories usually start out rated T and progress to M and that's also how this one is, so there's no smut for a while. Sorry. LOL

Now after that long long author's note: I do not own the Vampire Diaries TV show or the books. If I did, I would not be writing fan fiction about it. LOL Enjoy!

Chapter One

Rebecca Stone stood in front of the full-length mirror in her room. She wasn't vain, but it was the first day of school after a long hard summer; she wanted to look good for herself and she wanted to make everyone think she was okay. She and her dad had been fighting again. That was par for the course for them, had been for the last eight months. It had gotten worse over the summer.

Eight months ago, Rebecca's mother had died giving birth to Chelsea Marie Stone, Rebecca's eight-month-old sister. Robert, Rebecca's father, had had a breakdown after that. He'd never been the most attentive father to begin with, but with Chelsea it was worse. It was like he blamed the little girl for his wife's death and Rebecca hated him a little for that. She did everything she could to make sure Chelsea got all the attention her dad wasn't willing to give her.

Rebecca's mother had been a free spirit when she'd been alive and she'd given Rebecca all the space she'd needed to become an independent little woman - her mother had always called her 'little woman' instead of 'young lady'. As long as Rebecca hadn't gotten in trouble her mother hadn't cared what she'd done. Rebecca usually had good judgment. Robert had been sterner, always, and instead of meeting in the middle, he had always wanted things his way. It had grated on Rebecca's nerves. And it had been an arguing point between Robert and his wife their whole marriage.

Rebecca had stayed out of it for the most part. She hadn't wanted to put herself in the middle of it and have to choose sides. She hadn't wanted to have to be the referee either.

Then her mother had gotten pregnant and Robert had done a 180. He'd become nicer, he'd been excited about the baby. Rebecca had been . . . a little reluctant to be happy about a new baby. She'd barely turned seventeen when she'd found out her mother was pregnant and she hadn't wanted to be rude, but she'd had a feeling she'd be the one who would end up taking care of it. Now, looking back, she'd happily have offered to take care of the baby as long as her mom would've made it through the labor.

Honestly . . . Rebecca had resented her sister too when the doctor had told her that her mom hadn't survived. That had all changed when she'd seen her sister there wrapped in a pink blanket, all small and defenseless, and Rebecca had known she needed to take care of her, raise her as if she were her own. It wasn't until after Chelsea was born that Rebecca had learned that her mother had had other pregnancies before but she'd always miscarried; for her to have carried Chelsea full term . . . It had put a strain on her body and her mother had been well aware that that had been a risk, but, like any good mother would have, she chose to risk her life so her daughter could live.

Robert hadn't even come to see Chelsea at the nursery in the hospital; Rebecca had stayed there. That was when resentment had begun to build. Robert had begun to drink and had become pretty much unresponsive to anything; nothing had seemed to touch him anymore. Then arguments began. Small things at first because Rebecca hadn't wanted to just blurt out that he was being stupid and he shouldn't blame Chelsea because his wife had made her choice. But eventually she did say that and he gave her the silent treatment for a whole day after that.

Rebecca had tried to get him to take care of Chelsea a few times by leaving them together alone, but when she'd returned home Chelsea wouldn't have been fed or changed; she'd been practically ignored. That caused an argument too. Chelsea was a baby, she couldn't take care of herself and Robert hadn't even tried.

Things had escalated a few weeks ago. Robert had worked for some construction company outside of town, but he'd quit. Rebecca had acted like a wife and not a daughter and had told him how stupid he'd been by doing that; how were they going to pay the bills because _she_ couldn't work. She had to go to school and take care of Chelsea. He'd told her he worked for the Founder's Council now, which was a group of the founding families of Mystic Falls, Virginia. He was also a part-time alcoholic now. He had changed, too, he'd become more strict with her. The older she was getting, the more rules he gave her.

It was an argument waiting to happen; she despised being told what to do.

Rebecca didn't understand him, or maybe she didn't want to understand him. He had serious emotional problems and he needed help. She didn't get why he was so stern with her, anyway. She hardly ever did anything bad and when she did it didn't hurt anyone, so . . . she didn't get what the big deal was.

Rebecca was more like her mother had been, only not as extreme. Rebecca was a senior at Mystic Falls High School; it was a normal enough high school for a small town. You had your jocks, your cheerleaders, your stoners, and your loners. . . Yep, fully functional high school. Rebecca didn't know where exactly she fit in. She didn't really have a clique; she got along with everyone. For the most part, with a few exceptions. But most everyone loved her.

Rebecca was about 5'5" with long honey-blond hair. The wavy but not bushy locks came down to her waist. Sometimes she had problems with it, but she would never cut it off. She liked it too much. She had a cherub-like face. Her eyes were light green and people always complimented them. She had a straight nose that led down to a perfectly full mouth. Her teeth were white and straight, if not perfect. But who needed perfection? Perfection was boring.

Her body was full-figured, shaped like an hourglass. She didn't have to work too hard for it; she was almost always on the move anyway. She didn't weigh that much, but she still had to wear a size 12 in jeans because of her damnable hips, the only semi-large thing on her body.

"Rebecca, Bonnie's here!" her dad's voice carried to her room. They lived in a one story house, so Rebecca could hear him fine.

"Coming!" Rebecca took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It was show time.

* * *

Outside, Rebecca hopped into Bonnie's white car. Elena was already there.

Bonnie Bennett had perfect caramel-colored skin - sometimes Rebecca was envious, but not in a bad way; she just thought the girl's skin was gorgeous. Bonnie had hazel green eyes and a pretty smile. She was nice and a good friend.

Elena Gilbert had olive skin, chocolate brown eyes and matching hair. Her eyes used to be so full of life; now they weren't. Elena had had it hard that summer, too. Her parents had driven off a bridge with her in the backseat. She'd made it; they hadn't. She had survivor's guilt and she thought it was her fault they were dead. She'd skipped out on Family Night and when they'd picked her up . . . that had happened.

Rebecca squeezed Elena's shoulder as she got in the backseat. Silent support, that was Rebecca's forte. She did not do the verbal support thing. She was not good at it.

"So Grams is telling me I'm psychic," Bonnie said as she drove away from Rebecca's house.

Rebecca listened but also looked back in worry. Hopefully Robert wouldn't just ignore Chelsea while Rebecca was away. He only had to spend a little time with her; Carol Lockwood was going to pick her up in about an hour. Carol was not Rebecca's most favorite person in the world, but she tolerated the woman. Jessica Stone, Rebecca's mom, had worked with her a lot when she was alive, and Carol had nothing to do all day, so. . .

"I know, crazy, but she's going on and on about it, and I'm like 'Put this woman in a home already.' But I started thinking, I predicted Obama, and I predicted Heath Ledger. And I still think Florida will break off and turn into little resort islands."

_Talk about somebody going on and on about it_, Rebecca thought fondly.

That was the joy of being with Bonnie and Elena. All three of them could be completely up front with each other. They'd known each other since they'd been in diapers.

"Elena! Back in the car," Bonnie teased.

They'd been driving past the cemetery where Elena's parents had been buried and again Rebecca squeezed Elena's shoulder. Elena wasn't alone and she needed to know that.

"I did it again, didn't I? I'm sorry, Bonnie, you were telling me that. . ."

"That I'm psychic now," Bonnie finished.

"Right. Okay, then predict something about me," Elena requested semi-playfully.

"Hey, don't make fun. There are actual psychics out there," Rebecca said. "Excluding Miss Cleo and all the other phone line ones."

Before either girl could respond, Bonnie was slamming on the brakes because a big black thing had hit the windshield. Then the car came to a screeching halt.

"What was that?" Bonnie freaked.

"God, who taught you how to drive, Bonnie?" Rebecca half-teased. Her heart was pitter-pattering all over the place. Her breathing was shallow, but she made herself breathe deeply and _then,_ as a safety measure, she snapped her seatbelt shut. Better late than never.

"Oh, my God, Elena, are you okay?"

Right. Elena had even more reason to be freaked out by the almost accident then her and Bonnie did. Rebecca felt a small jolt of guilt for not thinking of that before.

"It's okay. I'm fine."

"It was a bird or something. It came out of nowhere," Bonnie said.

_Poor bird_, Rebecca thought. Hopefully it had died on impact and wasn't off suffering somewhere.

"Really. I can't be freaked out by cars for the rest of my life."

Bonnie gave a small smile. "I predict this year is going to be kick-ass. I predict that all the sad and dark times are over and you are going to be beyond happy."

Elena smiled for Bonnie's sake and then they were off.

* * *

At school they ran into Matt Donovan, Elena's ex. He was sweet; he hadn't done anything to cause the breakup. Elena had just been going through a rough time. Matt was that nice guy-next-door type of person. Honest, open, sincere. Then Elena had dumped him and he'd been hurt. Which royally sucked because Elena and Matt had been friends since the sandbox age.

Rebecca got along with Matt okay. He never pushed himself on her; they didn't see each other that way. She could spend time with him and feel no pressure. He was still a good friend, very protective, watched out for the people he cared about. He had it hard, Matt did. Him mom was never around, he didn't know his dad, and his sister was a drug addict.

Then there was Caroline Forbes. Stereotypical cheerleader and Rebecca hated stereotyping people but there it was. Yup. Caroline was also one of the few people in the history of people that Rebecca had to force herself to get along with. She could only stand Caroline in small doses. She might go crazy if she had to put up with Caroline all the time.

"Oh, my God. Elena, how are you? Oh, it's so good to see you."

Caroline meant well, Rebecca knew that, but Caroline lacked a thing called tact. It wasn't her fault, she just didn't get it. Also sometimes she could be a little too peppy for Rebecca.

"How is she? Is she good?" Caroline asked Bonnie and Rebecca.

"Caroline, I'm right here. And I'm fine, thank you."

"Really?"

"Yes, much better."

If Elena was fine and feeling better, then how come her response sounded like a well-rehearsed line?

"Aw, you poor thing." Caroline pulled Elena in for a hug.

"It's okay, Caroline." Elena seemed to be reaching her Caroline quota, too.

"Okay, see you guys later?"

"Okay, bye."

Elena tried to be perky when she waved. Then when Caroline was out of earshot Rebecca, Elena and Bonnie giggled.

"No comment," Elena said. "I'm not even gonna say anything."

They weren't making fun of Caroline. They weren't. But some of Caroline's actions just pulled that response from them.

As they passed by the main office Bonnie stopped them, which was good because Rebecca suddenly got a weird feeling that made her stop mid-step anyway. What the hell? It was almost like that weird feeling one gets when they feel they're being watched, that hair-raising spooked feeling. It faded away slowly, but she still wondered what the feeling had been about.

"Hold up, who's this?"

"All I see is back," Elena said.

Bonnie had been looking at a boy who was in the main office talking to the woman behind the desk.

"It's a nice back."

Rebecca just rolled her eyes and smiled fondly at the two.

"That's my cue to leave. Boy talk so isn't for me. I'll see you guys at lunch."

Rebecca was a year ahead of the other two and that sadly meant she didn't share their classes. Thinking back to their conversation . . . Rebecca liked guys, she did, but she'd tried the dating thing in junior year and it just wasn't for her. She wanted more than some guy looking for a piece of ass. Not all guys were like that, she knew that. But most guys her age were running on hormones; they wanted you for the night and they hoped you were gone the next morning so they wouldn't have to awkwardly and rudely kick you out.

Forgetting the male species for the moment, Rebecca checked her locker combination on the sheet of paper every Mystic Falls High student had received in the mail. Her locker was in the English Hall, which was okay since that was her first class.

The day went by slowly. Most of the teachers only handed out the 'Rules of the Classroom' sheets - like the students hadn't learned by now. But then there was Mr. Tanner, the history teacher. As soon as Rebecca walked in the door she'd known she was not going to like him. He enjoyed humiliating his students.

Luckily though, that was her last class. She met Bonnie and Elena and Matt in the hallway and stopped to chat just a little. Elena had been eye-flirting with some guy - _new_ guy - and Matt had noticed. So had Bonnie. Rebecca didn't comment on that since Matt was still around, but she'd probably bring it up later.

Caroline had been waiting near Bonnie's locker and Rebecca had had her fill of Caroline earlier so she went on to her own locker. Elena followed her.

"Hey, are you okay? You seem even quieter than normal," Elena asked. She was probably referring to the fact that Rebecca didn't see the need to fill every silence with conversation, sometimes quiet was nice.

Rebecca nodded. "Yeah. It's, um . . . Did Bonnie tell you about my dad?"

"The basics. I don't think she wanted me to worry about you."

"Oh. . . Well, we argued again last night about Chelsea. He wouldn't even agree to baby-sitting today. He didn't have to work or anything, he just wouldn't. He's driving me insane. Sometimes I just wanna scream."

"I'm really sorry I haven't -" Elena began.

"Hey, you had your own problems to deal with." Dead parents totally overrode arguing with one.

"No excuse. I've been a bad friend."

"Elena! Rebecca!" Caroline came up behind them. "We're all gonna meet at the Grill later. Wanna come?"

"U-um. . ." Damn Caroline and her need to be around people all the time. "Maybe. I'll let you know. My dad's been on this whole keep-Rebecca-at-home kick. I'll ask."

"Why? Did you do something wrong?"

"No. He just likes laying down the law. But I'll be there if he lets me."

"Cool. Elena, you in?"

Elena smiled softly. "I'm in."

* * *

At home the Grill question almost caused another argument but only because Rebecca's dad was drinking. She really wanted to know what his problem was. Whatever it was, it couldn't be as bad as he was making it out to be. It couldn't just be Chelsea and it couldn't just be Jessica; something else had to be wrong.

Eventually he relented and he gave her the keys to his car, a new Mustang - not new-_new_; it was a couple of years old, but still . . . Fairly new. He told her to be home by ten and he also gave her the don't-take-candy-from-a-stranger speech. Okay, the last part was stretching it a little; point was he needed to lighten up.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be home by ten. Love you." That last part was sort of automatic and she wasn't sure she meant it anymore.

As she made her way to the Grill she jammed on whatever was on the radio. Nickleback and other alternative rock like that. It took maybe five minutes to get to the restaurant, the local hangout. There wasn't a whole lot of town to Mystic Falls, Virginia. And there weren't many hangout spots. There was the Grill and then a party place down by the Falls.

Rebecca had on a blue shirt that had pockets in the front and dark wash jeans with sneakers. These were her usual clothing; modest and not too revealing. She usually liked to keep everything covered that needed to be covered. She really didn't need to show off any skin; she was aware she had a nice body. It was all thanks to years of gymnastics and color guard.

She ran into Caroline and Bonnie at the entrance of the Grill and Caroline greeted her with her overenthusiastic self. That part was okay about her. She made you feel she was happy to see you when she saw you. Even if she'd seen you not even two hours ago.

"Dad took a chill pill, huh?" Caroline asked.

"Uh, sort of. But I have a curfew now. Bummer, I know, but why fight it?"

Rebecca looked around. There were older people at the bar in the front; the younger generation was gathered around the foosball table, the pool table, and the dartboard. Girls were hanging off of guys arms; some of the jocks were being loud and obnoxious.

She saw Jeremy Gilbert, Elena's younger brother, trailing Vicki Donovan, Matt's older sister. He had a crush, Rebecca guessed. Jeremy was one of those troubled kids that you can't help but feel sorry for, but then on the other hand, you don't want to encourage the troubled behavior either.

And Vicki was even worse. She had no self-esteem and she let guys treat her like crap.

Case in point: Tyler Lockwood. Football player with anger issues. He was another person Rebecca had a hard time getting along with. He was a dick and he hit on pretty much anything with a vagina. He'd tried getting in Rebecca's pants a few times, but she eventually told him to piss off. If he could prove he wanted more than sex then she'd be willing, but he never had proved it. She'd even gone out with him for a few weeks; she'd given him a chance, and he'd blown it.

Back to the present: Vicki and Tyler. Rebecca hoped Vicki knew what she was getting herself into.

"Hey, you okay?" Bonnie asked, grabbing Rebecca's hand. Bonnie sort of spaced out. She was dazed, far away. What the hell? "Oh, sorry." She drew her hand away. "Uh, spaced out."

"Yeah, obviously. Are _you_ okay?" Rebecca was happy she could take the attention off of herself.

"Yeah, uh, I just do that sometimes."

"Oh, okay. Well, don't do that while you're driving," Rebecca teased, though it did worry her; people didn't just space out like that for no reason.

Having successfully diverted Bonnie's attention, Rebecca turned to Caroline. "So . . . have you heard from Elena? How come she's not here yet?"

"I don't know. She's probably trying to find the perfect thing to wear."

Of course Caroline was worried about her clothes. Or everyone's clothes, actually. Elena, however, wasn't that obsessed with fashion. Yeah, she wanted to look good, but . . . fashion, not her top priority.

"Anyway, what about that new guy?" Bonnie said. "He's in our history class."

"His name is Stefan Salvatore. He lives with his uncle up at the old Salvatore boardinghouse. He lived here when he was kid. Military family; he moved around a lot.

"You got all that in one day?" Bonnie asked.

"Please, I got all that between third and fourth period. We're planning a June wedding," Caroline said.

Rebecca bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. Boy crazy Caroline. Wow. She was going to get herself in trouble one day.

"So, uh, anyway . . . I'm gonna go talk to Jeremy. He looks kind of lonely." Vicki must have blown him off, it looked like. "See you guys later."

She made her way over to Jeremy's table and plopped down in a chair. "Hey, Jer."

"Hey, Becca. What's up?"

"Not a darn thing," she said. "Uh, I actually wanted to talk to you about Vicki. I know you like her, so . . . look out for her, okay? Tyler can be a dick when he wants to be."

"Check that." Jeremy looked shyly down at the table. "I like talking to you. You make me feel like I'm not the messed up kid who lost his parents."

"Mm. That's because I don't care if you think you need to get high sometimes. Everybody needs an escape once in a while. Though I do recall when yours used to be drawing."

"Yeah . . . Not so much anymore."

Things between Jeremy and Rebecca were good and easy. She'd known him his whole life and they had the brother-sister thing down to a T. The good I-can-talk-to-you-about-anything relationship, not the bad we-fight-all-the-time relationship.

"Not finding the inspiration you need?"

"Absolutely not."

"I know how that feels."

Rebecca loved singing and writing her own songs and playing her own music, but ever since her mother had died and she'd had to take care of Chelsea she hadn't had time to do much of it. Writing was something she and Elena shared. They'd written together as far back as she could remember.

"Can I get you anything?" Vicki appeared beside Rebecca and smiled a little.

"Uh, Coke, please."

"Comin' right up." Then she walked away without even acknowledging Jeremy.

"Okay, um . . . I'll be right back. Just tell her to leave the drink here."

"Will do. Um . . . Are you okay? You seem a little different."

Crap. Could _everyone_ tell she wasn't herself?

"Uh, yeah. Uh, just stuff over the summer." She hadn't talked to him, either, about her dad because of his parents deaths. And despite the fact that he was a guy, he was surprisingly sensitive when he wanted to be.

"Well, if you wanna talk about it. . ." Jeremy offered, looking at her with his puppy dog eyes.

Rebecca sighed, feeling her throat swell. She hadn't cried about her dad, ever, and she'd barely cried about her mother. With taking care of Chelsea she hadn't really had time to grieve properly. Rebecca had tried to ignore the pain from it, for the most part, but with Jeremy asking about it she couldn't ignore it anymore. She couldn't ignore it because her throat _hurt_ with the emotion she was trying to contain, because her eyes were stinging with unshed tears.

"Hey, come on. I'm - I'm gonna go tell Vicki to forget that drink, okay?" He touched her arm lightly. "We'll go somewhere and we'll talk, okay?"

Oh, no. He was going to make her feel even worse. Alone, she could handle it, could pretend everything was fine. She couldn't pretend anymore.

"I don't . . . um . . . I don't wanna talk about it, but I wouldn't mind hanging out with you for a while."

"Sure, okay, whatever."

"Okay, just give me a minute. I have to go to the bathroom."

* * *

Rebecca didn't really have to use the bathroom, she just wanted to get herself under control before facing Jeremy. She preferred to do her crying alone, not with an audience and especially not with a male audience. One could never really tell how a guy would react when confronted with tears, some downright freaked out.

When she began feeling a little better she left the bathroom to go back to Jeremy, but she ran into someone. A guy in a leather jacket. Though she was more focused on his eyes. They were the prettiest blue eyes she'd ever seen. The first thing she could think of was island oceans- that was the color they were.

"Oh, um, sorry. My total bad," she said when she remembered how to speak. And she realized she felt that weird feeling she'd felt earlier, which was bad timing really, but she chalked it up to running into someone.

"No problem. It happens."

The guy had his hands on Rebecca's arms; he'd stopped her from plowing into him too hard. But now it was like . . . there was an electric current flowing from him to her. It surprised her. Apparently he felt it too because he pulled his hands away quickly.

Rebecca realized she was openly staring at him, this guy she didn't know, and looked away. God, even if she never saw him again . . . she would remember his eyes forever.

"So, Miss Girl-who-ran-into-me. You got a name?"

She looked up, surprised that he'd even asked her name. The guy was older by at least five years. Again she got stuck on his eyes.

"Rebecca. You?"

He smirked and she had to admit it was sexy. "Damon. It's nice to meet you, Miss Rebecca."

When she went to shake his hand he brought it to his lips to kiss the back of it. She bit her lip, let out a shaky breath, and felt her cheeks grow warm. She hadn't gotten flustered from a guy in a very long time, but she was sure getting flustered now. Over someone she didn't even know. Jeeze. And she was still staring into his eyes. It was like she _couldn't_ look away.

"You have the most beautiful blue eyes," she whispered sincerely, acutely away he still had her hand in his. When her mind caught up with her actions she flushed further and she drew her hand away. "God, I'm sorry. I have this condition called word vomit. Whenever I'm thinking something it usually just spews out of my mouth."

Damon smirked again. "It's okay. I have to say I was a little shocked, you being so honest, but it's refreshing." He let a genuine grin grace his lips and her heart skipped a beat. "Let me guess, you're a terrible liar."

"God, yes. I smile or blush or . . . Uh, you know what? I'm gonna stop now. I don't know you, and I'm probably boring you, so. . ."

"Oh, on the contrary, I find you very interesting." His eyes did this weird but sexy, almost flirty, thing and his smirk fell back into place. "If you want, we could grab some coffee, talk some more."

Rebecca wasn't the type to cozy up to people she just met, but she found herself really wanting to with this guy. Too bad she already had plans with Jeremy.

"Wow, I would, but someone's waiting for me."

"Well, of course they are." He did the eye thing again. "You're a very lovely girl, why wouldn't they be?"

She blushed again at the compliment and noticed his smirk grew smirkier; he'd made her blush on purpose.

"No, it's not like that." She had no reason why she felt like she needed to justify herself to this guy; she barely knew him. "He's just a friend, I promised we'd hang. Rain check?"

"Tomorrow? Around five?" he asked.

"Sure. I'll be here."

"Great. See you then."

"Yup. It was nice meeting you, Damon."

When Rebecca got back to Jeremy they went outside, but ran into Elena and the new guy, Stefan. Elena introduced him to the two and he seemed nice enough. His eyes were forest green and he had a brooding forehead. Uh-oh. He was one of those I'm-dark-and-broody-so-give-me-love types. Half of the female population would be hooked by the end of the week.

Stefan and Rebecca shook hands and he gave a small smile but kept quiet for the most part.

"Were you guys leaving already?" Elena asked, looking at Jeremy suspiciously. God, give the kid a break already. Elena meant well, but sometimes her trying to help people came off as sticking her nose in other people's business.

"Yeah, um, we were gonna hang at my place for a little bit. I'll bring him home later."

Elena relaxed a little when Rebecca said she'd be with him. Elena knew Rebecca's dad didn't hold with minors drinking even though he could drink his own self stupid.

"Um . . . It was nice meeting you, Stefan. I'll see you guys in school."

After that Jeremy and Rebecca got into the Mustang and then they took off towards her house. Then she remembered she needed to pick up Chelsea - she hoped Carol hadn't had much of a problem.

It wasn't even eight yet; she figured her dad couldn't get mad at her for hanging out with Jeremy at the house and Jeremy didn't really have a curfew, and Jenna - Jeremy and Elena's aunt - liked Rebecca anyway. Jenna was their legal guardian. Miranda Gilbert had been Jenna's sister and had named Jenna as sole guardian. She was pretty laid back as a parental unit, so. . .

Jeremy and Rebecca didn't talk in the car, they just listened to the radio in comfortable silence. He kept looking at her, though. If she hadn't known it was out of concern for her, she would've been annoyed.

After picking up Chelsea they went straight to her house. When she pulled into her driveway she just sat there with the car on for a minute. She felt better than she had in a while just from being in some guy's presence for about five minutes. That wasn't like her. It was strange and a little scary.

"Becca? What's up with you? You were almost in tears before you went in the bathroom, now you can barely stop smiling. Did you get laid or something?" he teased the last part.

"Jer!" She smacked him in the arm hard, and he chuckled. "Look, Jer, I know I'm acting strange, but remember I said I didn't want to talk about it. Let's just be Jeremy and Rebecca, okay? We'll have fun. Come on."

They'd decided to get out just in time to keep Chelsea from crying - the poor baby hated being strapped in a car seat.

They went in and her dad didn't even say anything about her bringing a guy home; probably because he _knew_ Jeremy and he knew she wasn't interested. Her dad was watching the television and reading the newspaper at the same time. He had an untouched glass of some kind of alcoholic beverage on the coffee table in front of him; at least it was untouched.

"Hey, uh, Jeremy and I are gonna hang out here for a while. I'll drive him home later."

"Yeah, okay," her dad said. "But be careful. There have been a couple animal attacks recently. Read this."

Rebecca sighed when he handed her the newspaper. Front page news: Bodies Found Mutilated by Animals.

_Two local residents reported missing were found dead after police discovered their abandoned vehicle on highway._

The two victims had been a couple, both between the ages of twenty and twenty-five. They'd both just been starting out in life; they'd died way too young.

"Um . . . Did the animal get into the car or something? It was the middle of the night, why did they abandon their car?" That was kind of a dumb thing to do, to get out of your car at night and go gallivanting around the woods. That was just asking for trouble.

"Well, I don't know what happened. Sheriff Forbes said it looked like they hit something. The windshield was completely busted in.

"Okay, well, I'll be careful, Dad. I promise." Then, "Come on, Jer, let's go to my room."

"Keep the door open," her dad said, though there was a slight tease to his voice. He did have his moments, which was why Rebecca couldn't bring herself to hate him completely.

"Yeah, yeah."

Rebecca had a Playstation 2 and they both liked racing games. She even had those racing wheel things.

"So, ready to get your butt whipped?" she teased as she placed Chelsea in her crib. Yes, she allowed her sister to sleep in her room with her even though everyone told her she'd regret it later.

"I think you'll find there will be an exchange of butts. I'm better at this game, you know that."

"Yeah, but who's to say I haven't been practicing? I might be able to take you now."

Jeremy was being honest enough; he _was_ better at this game than her. The only games she was good at were the Guitar Hero series. No pun intended, but she totally rocked at those games.

They played the road courses on the NASCAR game, which had her running into everything there was to run over.

"So, are you going to that party tomorrow night?" Jeremy asked.

"Back to school thing at the Falls? I don't know. Not really the celebrating school type."

He shrugged. "A party's a party. It could be fun."

"Yeah, yeah. I don't know, I'll think about it, okay? I'll have to find someone to watch Chelsea."

"Jenna wouldn't mind."

"Hm."

She was still mindful of a certain guy she'd just met that she was supposed to get coffee with. She was actually a little nervous, which was weird because usually guys didn't affect her that way.

"And . . . I beat you again."

She playfully knocked the controller from his hand as he crossed the finish line.

"You cheat! You're a cheater!"

"No," he laughed. "You just suck."

They played a few more games and then her dad offered to drive Jeremy home instead of her doing it. Safety measures and all that. He was so paranoid. And she hoped he hadn't been drinking if he was going to be driving.

Her dad took a brown bag that Rebecca had never seen before with him; it looked heavy. He held it against his chest protectively. God, he was acting so strange lately. Maybe he'd finally snapped and gone crazy. Whatever the reason was for his odd behavior . . . it wasn't Rebecca's problem. He obviously didn't want her help, so he could just deal with it on his own.

* * *

Okay, so what do you guys think? Continue? Don't continue? FYI: I allow anonymous reviews because I know not everyone has an account. If you chose to review, let me know what you think about Rebecca's interactions with the characters. Anyway, hope you enjoyed. By the way, if you didn't figure it out . . . Damon is not just being nice. LOL. Of course he has a reason to act the way he is.


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, not all of my updates will be this fast. LOL. But I wanted to get the first episode out of the way, so you guys could kind of see what direction this is going in. Rebecca has revealed a little more of her backstory about her life, what with the two boyfriends and all.

Anyway, I have a few alerts but not many reviews. I mean, I'm gonna continue updating either way, but I need to know if you guys like it or not or what you think about the characters and whatnot.

Enjoy!

Chapter Two

The next day school was, well, school-like. The teachers were over the rule-giving and so now the students really had work to get into. In history Mr. Tanner humiliated half the class by asking some stupid question about something that had happened about 150 years ago. Elena said he'd asked the same in her class and only Stefan had gotten it right. It turned out he was distantly related to the original settles here.

At lunch Rebecca sat with Bonnie, Caroline, Elena, and Stefan. Again, throughout the day she got that uncomfortable being watched feeling. She decided if it kept going on she'd have to tell her friends about it, maybe they had felt that way at some point and there was a perfectly reasonable explanation.

Stefan basically reiterated what Rebecca had found out from Caroline the night before. The only new thing she found out was that his parents were dead. Leave it to Caroline to leave out something like that.

"I'm really sorry," Rebecca said sincerely. She was sympathetic, but she still had one of her parents so she didn't really know what it was like. "That must be awful."

Stefan's green eyes became guarded. "It was a long while ago."

That was that; no more was said about that subject. She was not one to go on and on about painful subjects.

After school Bonnie pulled her aside and said, "Grams asked me to give you something."

Bonnie's Grams was a professor at a nearby college - she taught occult or something like that. What could Bonnie's Grams possibly want Rebecca to have?

"Look," Bonnie began apologetically. "It's a book. You don't have to read it if you don't want to. It's a little strange."

"Um . . . Okay."

Bonnie handed her a leather bound book titled 'Vampire'. The letters were a golden yellow. She took the book even though she had no clue what Bonnie's Grams was trying to tell her with this.

"She said . . . she said you'll know and to come to her when you're ready."

"Ready for what?"

"That's what she said you'll know. Don't ask." Bonnie rolled her eyes. "She was drinking again."

Bonnie's Grams had a habit of drinking a few glasses of wine and then telling tall tales about different supernatural things. Hence the psychic thing with Bonnie, and now this book she was giving Rebecca.

"Um . . . Okay. I feel like I should say thank you or something but . . ."

"But it's crazy, right? I get it. But I did my job and gave you the book, so . . . Yeah." Then onto another subject. "Is your dad gonna let you come to the party tonight?"

Rebecca shrugged. "I dunno. Haven't asked yet. I don't even know if I wanna go."

"Oh, you have to come! Even Elena's coming. It'll be us three together again, y'know?"

"A'right," Rebecca said, smiling softly and giving into her enthusiasm. "Well, I'll ask."

"Cool, if you need a ride give me a call, okay?"

"Sure."

Rebecca nodded and Bonnie walked away. She put the book Bonnie had given her in her shoulder bag and then went off to an afternoon tutoring session where she was the tutor. Rebecca didn't really care about school, but she just so happened to be good at it. She didn't mind helping others who actually _did_ care and wanted help. She'd started doing that during the summer, only with younger kids, which had been more a big sister type thing. She'd been able to take Chelsea along and the younger kids had loved having a baby around, so . . . She and Matt Donovan had been assigned the same group of children and that was how Rebecca had gotten to really know him. She'd been there for him after Elena had broken up with him, so they were close.

Matt played football so he couldn't do the tutoring thing anymore, but it had been a way to make money over the summer, _now_ it was just a volunteer thing.

In the present, Rebecca was tutoring high school students, most in lower classes. Some were striving to skip a grade, others just wanted to know what to expect from the grade they were in.

"Hey, people," she said as she stepped into the library. Rebecca could recognize the freshmen right away; they were the younger, nervous ones. The ones who were wondering whether or not they had a bitch for a tutor. She was so _not_ a bitch.

"Okay, so . . . You guys come with me. I like to do my thing outside, so if it's not raining or too cold I meet out in the schoolyard near the picnic tables."

It was about seventy-five today, too nice to be cooped up, so it was good enough for her. She watched as her group gathered their things, and then they followed her outside.

"Okay, first thing's first. Each of you separate into your own grade. I meet Tuesday's and Thursday's, but I'll make exceptions if you have a schedule problem. I know some of you have other school activities that get in the way of my schedule, so _if_ that's the case . . . please make me a list of the times on those days that you're available. I will be checking with the office to make sure you're telling the truth, so please don't lie to me. That would make me cranky and I'll have to assign you to someone who is not as pleasant as me." The last part was a joke, sort of, but she _would_ reassign them. She was nice but she didn't let people take advantage of it.

"Okay, so today I want each of you to write down what you're strengths and weaknesses are. Also, sophomores and juniors, I need you guys to tell me the name of last year's teachers. I like to get records and such."

She was very thorough. Sometimes she worried that taking care of a baby had turned her into an obsessive compulsive person.

After the tutoring session was over, Rebecca had thirty minutes to get to the Grill. She brushed her hair before she left the school and then she began the ten minute walk to the restaurant. She was oddly nervous. Part of it was because she barely knew Damon - one reason she'd accepted to meet him in a _public_ place; there would be other people there - but the other part was because he'd really made an impression on her.

He had strong yet delicate features for a guy, and his skin had appeared flawless; it had made her want to touch him to see if it was as perfect as it appeared. His jaw line was well-defined, and his lips . . . looked perfect. Very soft and kissable. _And_ he'd kissed her hand. She hadn't known guys did that anymore, but she'd liked it.

By the time Rebecca reached the Grill she had butterflies in her stomach, which beat the now almost constant vibes she seemed to be getting lately.

_Jeeze, get a grip, Becca. He's just another guy_, she told herself. _He's just an absurdly handsome guy with piercing blue eyes_. It was the eyes that did it for her. They were so intense, they were almost hypnotizing. She bet he could get anything he wanted with one glance at whoever he wanted something from.

When Rebecca actually stepped inside the Grill she almost turned back around. Caroline was there; if Caroline saw Rebecca there with a guy, it would be all over the school tomorrow. Caroline couldn't help it; she just didn't know how to keep a secret. But, no. Rebecca had told Damon she'd meet him there, so she was going to meet him there. She didn't want him to think she was a flake. Or a liar. Or that she blew people off.

She chose a seat by the window facing the street and waited patiently for Damon to show up.

* * *

Damon Salvatore was on a fact finding mission; the mission being Rebecca Stone. He'd met her the day before - he'd let her run into him on purpose. There was something a little . . . off . . . about her. She vibed at him; she had a very powerful aura and he wanted to know why. Maybe she would be useful in getting Katherine back. Point was he didn't know what Rebecca was capable of or what she was, period. He'd finally found something he hadn't seen before.

The whole electric shock thing had been a bit of a, well, shock and he didn't want to overanalyze that, but she'd obviously felt it too. And her honesty was a breath of fresh air. Her 'word vomit' as she called it was, dare he even think it, adorable. And she blushed, which was a novelty in this day and age.

He hadn't been lying to her; she was a lovely girl. She had waist length honey-blond hair; it had just enough wave to it to make it look fashionable. She was maybe 5'5" or 5'6" and she was shaped the way a woman should be; not a stick-figure Barbie. She had striking green eyes, lighter than Stefan's but darker than a lime. There were sparks of sun-gold around her pupils that gave them a strange but alluring affect. Her skin was clear of all the cosmetics females seemed to think they needed these days; she had a sort of natural beauty that even Damon could appreciate. Hopefully she never pissed him off; it would be a shame to rid the world of someone so genuinely beautiful.

He'd followed her home the night before to find out where she'd lived and then he'd kept an eye on her after she'd gotten out of school that day. She had done some tutoring thing, which proved she had a brain at least. Then he'd followed her to the Grill after that where she was now waiting.

Time to do the fact finding, he guessed.

* * *

"Hello, Rebecca," she heard as Damon sat across from her. "I'm sorry if I kept you waiting long."

"Not at all. I just got here."

She looked at him and almost forgot to breathe when she saw he was smiling at her. He really was a very beautiful man.

"Well . . . since it's late, how about dinner? Or have you already eaten?" Damon put on his most charming smile. "My treat?"

"Oh, um . . ." Rebecca was taken aback. "You don't have to -"

"Please, in exchange for the pleasure of your company, I'll buy you dinner. I insist."

Rebecca shook her head, but accepted nonetheless. "Fine, fine."

She told him what she wanted and he went to order. He flashed her a smile when he came back.

"So, Damon . . . are you from around here, or . . ."

"I was born here. Moved away, now I'm back, obviously. Were you born here?"

"Yeah. So . . . What made you come back?"

"I needed some quality family time." He smirked deviously. "After all, home is the place where, when you come by they have to take you in."

"Okay, then." Rebecca wasn't too keen on family at the moment, but if he felt that way, more power to him.

"Once more with even less feeling?" he teased, smirking.

"Um . . . Daddy issues. Nothing to worry about. I'll just be happy when I can get away from him."

"Mm. Dads. Don't they suck?"

"You too?"

"Long time ago, not anymore."

When their food came they talked in between bites. She found Damon was very good company. He was nice and he could make her laugh. Yeah, he could be sarcastic, almost snaky even, but it was in a good way. He also had no problems stating his opinion. Like he'd said about her honesty, it was refreshing.

In the middle of dinner, Caroline came over to ask if she needed a ride to the Falls. That was her cover story anyway. Rebecca was sure Caroline was just curious.

"No, I'm good," Rebecca answered.

"You sure? Bonnie's coming to pick me up."

Rebecca shook her head. "No. Uh" - she looked at Damon and bit her lip - "Caroline, this is Damon. Damon, Caroline."

"Hi." She gave him a come-to-bed-with-me smile and Rebecca had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. Caroline could at least try to be subtle about it.

"Hi." Damon barely glanced at her; he was too busy watching Rebecca. She felt a little smug about that.

When Caroline realized Damon wasn't going to her the time of day, she gave up and turned her attention back to Rebecca.

"So, uh . . . Are you even coming to the party?"

"I told Bonnie I'd be there, Care."

"See you there then."

"Yup."

Then Caroline walked out of the restaurant. Rebecca placed her face in her hands and felt herself flush. God, sometimes Caroline really got to her.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just . . . Caroline is going to tell everyone that I'm going out with an older guy. She's a gossip queen. The whole school will know about my dinner with you by tomorrow morning."

"Does that bother you?"

"Not really," she said honestly. "I just wish people would mind their own business." Rebecca smiled softly. "You know, the damage is done already, so why not make the most of it? I _did_ promise to be there . . . Would you like to come? A lot of girls know older guys, you'll blend."

"Well, ya know, since you asked so nicely . . ." He shrugged and did his weird eye thing - seriously where did he learn to do that? "I'll go pay the bill and then we can go."

Rebecca picked up her book bag, which Damon then took from her. Again when their hands touched she felt that weird current flow through her.

"Let me get that for you."

"Um . . . Thank you." Then, "Are you sure you don't wanna split the bill? I mean, it's no problem if . . ."

Damon shook his head and his black hair fell into his eyes. "What kind of gentleman would I be if I made a lady pay for her own dinner?"

"Okay, but can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"No insult intended, but just how gullible do you think I am? I mean, I don't know how you deliver some of your lines with a straight face. Don't get me wrong, I like it, it's sweet, but do they ever actually work?"

Her voice was amused because she _found_ him amusing.

"Well, damn." He stopped walking and smirked at her. "You weren't supposed to figure that out for another couple of weeks. Sweet talk doesn't win you over, huh?"

"They're just words, Damon. But, you know, you can continue. It's still flattering."

"Well, maybe I say the things I do because I like seeing you blush."

That, of course, _made_ her blush; she'd known he did that on purpose. Jeeze.

"Well, I blush a lot, so you'll become immune to it."

After he paid the bill she led her outside to an old electric blue Camaro. Wow.

"Nice car. Going with the classics, gotta respect that."

He then opened her door for her so she could get in. He'd smirked at her comment on his car and then, "Anything breakable in your bag?"

"Nope."

So he tossed it in the backseat unceremoniously. She giggled at the indifference he had for the school stuff. Then he hopped in the front seat.

"So, should I be worried about your other friends? Are they as obvious as Caroline?"

"No!" Rebecca laughed. "There aren't two of those in our group. Thank God. I'd go insane."

She proceeded to tell him a little about Elena and Bonnie. She left out the fact that Elena's parents had recently died, and that Bonnie thought she was a psychic. Best friend code, she didn't blab about personal things like that.

"So where do you live, Damon?"

"At the boardinghouse with my uncle and my brother."

"The Salvatore boardinghouse? With Stefan?"

"Yup. That's my brother. You know him, I take it?"

"Uh, I've met him. We didn't talk much. He was with Elena. Um . . . He seems sort of quiet. Guarded."

"Yup, that's him. Uh, Elena, brown hair? He was with her at the Grill last night?"

"That's her. She's nice, in case you were wondering. Stefan's in good hands." Then, "Have you ever even been to the Falls?"

"A few times when I was younger."

Rebecca then remembered something Stefan had said earlier that day. "Um . . . Stefan said that your parents died. I'm sorry. I don't know what happened; I don't _need_ to know, but . . . For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

He looked at her and his expression was unexpectedly vulnerable and open. He even swallowed like he didn't know what to say.

"Stefan said it happened a while ago, but if it's a sore subject . . . Just tell me to shut up and I will."

"No, it's okay. It's just, we're almost there."

"Oh."

So they parked and then walked toward the group of kids gathered in the woods. Now that she thought about it, though, probably not the best place to party since there had been animal attacks nearby. Oops, _and_ she hadn't let her dad know where she'd be. Guess it didn't matter now. She'd deal with the consequences later.

She and Damon reached Elena just as Bonnie was walking away. She'd looked spooked.

"What's her deal?"

Elena jumped when Rebecca spoke and turned around quickly. "Becca, don't do that!"

"Sorry," she said and laughed. "Uh, this is -"

"Damon," another voice filled in. "What're you doing here?"

It was Stefan, Damon's brother. Only Stefan seemed even more on edge now. And Damon had his patented smirk on his face, and he kept glancing at Elena with the strangest expression; Rebecca couldn't quite place it and after a few seconds she stopped trying.

"Hello, Stefan."

"Why are you here?" Stefan asked, voice hard.

Rebecca looked between the two brothers and then at Elena. She could tell she and Elena were thinking the same thing: These two had serious issues they needed to work out, but here was not the place to do it.

"I missed my little brother," Damon said. Then he gestured to Rebecca. "I was invited. Pretty girl asked me to go somewhere, not gonna turn her down."

"You hate small towns," Stefan said, ignoring Damon's previous comment. "It's boring. There's nothing for you to do."

"I've managed to keep myself busy." Damon smirked again.

"Okay, um, I'm gonna go get a drink," Rebecca said. "Elena, come with me."

"Sure, we'll be back in a minute."

As soon as they were out of earshot Elena said, "What's up with them? I didn't even know Stefan had a brother."

"I learned on the way here," Rebecca said. "I don't know what happened, but there's definitely tension." Then kind of hopefully, "Did Jenna say she was staying with Chelsea at my house? I know -"

"Yes, Chelsea will be fine."

Rebecca got an unopened bottle of beer and popped the top off. She didn't drink a lot - mostly because she had to be the responsible one since her dad _did_ drink a lot - but on occasion she could throw a few back. She just wished it didn't taste so nasty.

"How do you know Damon?" Elena asked.

"Um, I met him yesterday. We had - we had dinner tonight." She blushed remembering what happened. "Uh, Caroline was there and, uh, the whole school will know tomorrow so I wanted you to know first."

"Any sparkage or are your hormones still on hold?"

"I like him. He's sweet, but . . . Not sure on his end. I'd rather not move fast, ya know? Take it slow. Make sure."

"Yeah, you're she-of-the-level-head."

Rebecca had her reasons for that and Elena knew them so she let the comment slide. She'd had exactly two boyfriends and both had turned out to be jerks. Tyler Lockwood was a typical red-blooded American teenage boy - horny all the time. She hadn't been into it at all. Then there was a guy named Chase, who didn't live in Mystic Falls anymore so he didn't matter, but he'd been . . . evil.

But Damon . . . "He . . . makes me feel _not _level-headed." And it kind of terrified her.

"Who makes you feel _not_ level-headed?" Damon's voice startled her. "Do I know him?"

Rebecca got her face under control before she looked at him. "Nope, don't think so. You want one?" She gestured to the beer. "Oh, wait, you have to drive."

"I think I can handle one beer."

"Okay." So she opened one for him too. "Um . . . Did Stefan leave?"

"Nah, he'll be back. He'll brood for a few minutes and he'll be fine."

Brooding . . . Rebecca didn't get the point of brooding. Although brooding was probably healthier than ignoring things until they went away, which Rebecca was good at.

Rebecca was vaguely aware of Vicki and Tyler going into the woods - probably to make out. God, didn't they knew there was more to life? She saw Jeremy looking after them with a puppy-dog expression. She really felt sorry for him. He was always there for Vicki and she dropped him every time Tyler came around. One of these times Jeremy just needed to _not_ be there and then see how she liked that. She might learn to appreciate him more.

Rebecca hated girls who couldn't see what a good thing they had when they had it. Especially when it was right in front of their faces.

The now familiar current that Rebecca knew had something to do with her new blue-eyed friend shot through her arm as he brought her out of her reverie.

"You okay?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. Thinkin'. Were you saying something?"

"Just that I was gonna go find Stefan. But I'll be back. Promise."

"'Kay."

He let his hand trail down her arm to her hand and he squeezed. From the twinkle of amusement in his crystal blue eyes, she could tell he'd done that on purpose; she was blushing again. Then he tapped her on the nose with his finger.

"_You_ are so fun to play with. I'll be back."

As he walked away Elena giggled. "Ooh, he wants to play with you."

"Shut up!" Rebecca whispered. "He didn't mean it that way." She didn't think he did, anyway.

* * *

Rebecca steered clear of Caroline, who was drunk, and went in search of Bonnie. The last time she'd seen Bonnie was before the Stefan and Damon incident; Bonnie had been freaked and Rebecca wanted to know why. Bonnie was hanging with a few of her cheerleader companions. Rebecca had no problem pulling her away; some of the less pleasant cheerleaders had issues with a brain hanging with the popular kids. Bonnie and Elena liked her because she was nice; Caroline liked her because Caroline was desperate for attention.

"Bonnie, are you okay? I saw you earlier with Elena . . . What happened?"

"Nothing. I saw . . . I thought I saw something. It's happened before with you, but it can't . . . be possible. I'm just drunk.

"What did you think you saw?"

"You were fighting . . . something. There was a . . . man. He looked human, but he had fangs. Red eyes and there were veins under his eyes."

Rebecca was a little surprised, but she also had a _normal_ explanation. "Bonnie, could this have anything to do with the book your Grams gave you? It was called 'Vampire'. Maybe that's what caused the thought to pass through your head? Power of suggestion."

Bonnie looked uncertain, but relieved that Rebecca had come up with a rational explanation. But, come on, people didn't have fangs and red eyes. Vampires weren't real.

"Somebody help!" was what got Rebecca's attention.

Elena and Jeremy were coming out of the woods, and Jeremy was holding an unconscious Vicki in his arms. Bonnie and Rebecca rushed over, mostly because Elena was freaking out.

"It's her neck. Something bit her. She lost a lot of blood. It's bad."

Rebecca, Elena, Bonnie, Caroline, Matt, Jeremy, and Tyler were circled around Vicki. Like Tyler even cared; he shouldn't have left the girl in the woods by herself. Rebecca noticed that Vicki had bite marks on her neck. A human bite mark with puncture wounds on either side.

_Too much vampire talk_, she told herself.

Rebecca flashed back to Bonnie's talk of fangs and her hands started shaking; she felt lightheaded. She couldn't believe she was thinking what she was thinking. She was a rational - as Elena had said, level-headed - person. She didn't believe in anything she couldn't see. But she was seeing it now.

Rebecca reached into the back pocket of her jeans. "I'm gonna call an ambulance."

She walked away to a quieter place and dialed 911. She wasn't freaking out yet and she would probably wait until she got home. Not freaking out in a crisis was something she was good at.

Once she gave the police the information they gave her the estimated time it would take for them to get there and also said they were sending an animal control unit to the area.

"They'll be here in about fifteen minutes," she told Matt. "They said to keep pressure on the wound."

Tyler tore the end of his shirt off and Rebecca whipped it away from him to tie it around Vicki's neck. "Keep it there," she told him, noticing Bonnie and Elena had stepped away.

She went to be with them. "You guys okay?"

"Yeah," Bonnie said. "Me and Caroline are gonna go mainline coffee, wait for some news."

"I gotta take Jeremy home," Elena said.

Bonnie took a deep breath and then, "Elena, there's no way I'm psychic. I know that. But whatever I saw or I think I saw . . . I have this feeling that it's just the beginning."

Rebecca took that in because she remembered what Bonnie had said about fangs and vampires. Maybe she hadn't just been drunk. Maybe there was something to Bonnie's revelation after all.

"I'm - I'm gonna stick around," Rebecca said. "Elena, if I can't find Damon, do you think Jenna will give me a ride home?"

"Yeah, sure. I already called Jenna. She's on her way."

"Okay, well . . . I'm gonna go look for Damon, call me when she gets here."

"'Kay. Call me if you find him."

"Will do."

Rebecca looked through the crowd and then when she didn't see him right away she went toward the picnic area where other people were. He wasn't _there_ either. Damn. He still had her book bag with the 'Vampire' book in it. He'd probably think she was a freak if he went through her things, and he seemed like the type who _would_.

Rebecca watched as Matt got into an ambulance with his sister and then as Elena walked over to a still drinking Jeremy. Bonnie and Caroline pulled away in her white car and then she saw that Damon's car was still in the lot. So she'd just go get her bag and if he didn't find her before Elena and Jeremy left, she'd leave with them. But she really wanted to know if Damon was okay. With what had happened to Vicki she was kind of worried. She'd brought Damon here, so if he got hurt it would be her fault.

She stayed near the car and actually got in because it started raining.

"Come on, Damon, where are you?" She really didn't want to have to go in the woods to look for him, but she would if she had to.

Now that Rebecca was alone she couldn't stop shaking. She felt dizzy and sick. She hoped she didn't get sick in the car. She also felt like she wanted to scream, but she covered her mouth to muffle the sound if it came.

But it didn't because suddenly Damon was there in the car with her.

"There you are," he said. "I've been looking for you." He took her in and moved her hand away from her face to hold it in his hand.

"You have blood on your hand. Did you hurt yourself?"

"It's - it's not my blood." She swallowed and then . . . Then she realized she felt like she couldn't breathe. Too much had happened in so little time and now, now she wanted to freak out. Well, her body obviously did, but she told herself she wouldn't do that. Not yet. She needed to distract herself.

"You know, when you wanna cry you really should just let it out."

If she 'let it out' she'd probably hyperventilate. She did that when no one was watching. Full out shaking, sobbing can't breathe hyperventilating. It hadn't happened in a long time, but she remembered a time when it happened a lot.

"I can't. Not with you watching." She got her cell phone out and texted Elena that she'd found Damon and all was fine. "Take me home?"

"Sure. Where would that be?"

So, she gave him the address.

* * *

When they reached her house she reached into the back to get her bag and she cursed as her books fell out. It was just one of those days. She got out and opened the back door; Damon was already reaching over the backseat to help her. He picked up the 'Vampire' book.

"Um . . . That's an interesting book." He eyed it and then her suspiciously.

"Yeah, it's not mine. A friend gave it to me. I don't even know if I'm gonna read it."

"Even after what happened tonight?"

"_Especially _after what happened tonight." She sighed as he helped her put her books back in her bag.

"Rebecca, come in the house, please."

Her shoulders slumped when she heard the hard tone in her dad's voice. "Damn it." He sounded like he disapproved.

"Gotta go. Thanks for the ride."

"You're welcome. See you around?"

She smiled softly. "Count on it."

Once in the house her dad started in on her. "Where were you? It's after - is that blood?" He grabbed her hand. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I . . . I was at the Falls with Elena and Bonnie, a bunch of other people from school. Vicki Donovan was attacked, bitten by an animal."

"You did this without asking?"

"Someone almost died, Dad! I don't think my not telling you everything is the point right now." She withdrew her hand. "I'm going to bed."

"Who was that guy you were with?"

"Just a guy. His name is Damon. He was at the party; he gave me a ride home. _I'm going to bed_."

He actually let her go this time.

* * *

Okay, I was a little iffy about Damon's parts, but I was like he can be charming when he wants to be and that's what he was trying to put off in this chapter. Plus Rebecca didn't do anything to piss him off, like I put in the small Damon's POV section.

Let me know what you guys think. Please? :)


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, so this will be the last VD update for a little bit. I've been writing Supernatural again and I still have to rewrite a chapter of Twilight because when my computer crashed I lost it. I just hope that chapter lives up to the one I lost.

Enjoy!

Chapter Three

Rebecca's dreams were filled with blood and teeth - or fangs, really - and she seemed to be fighting these . . . inhuman creatures. Sometimes, though, it wasn't her. Sometimes she was other people: A warrior in China, a woman in New York, a blond in California. She witnessed their deaths and grieved for them as if they were her own. Point was she was fighting, always fighting. When she woke up she would be exhausted; her sleep obviously wasn't restful.

The dreams started the night of Vicki's attack; maybe it was because of it, Rebecca wasn't sure. All she knew was that she didn't want the dreams to continue.

She walked around in a daze at school. She couldn't make herself pay attention. She could barely contain the irritation she had when Caroline began talking about Bonnie's supposed ability.

"I'm confused. Are you psychic or clairvoyant?"

"Technically, Grams says I'm a witch. My ancestors were these really cool Salem witch chicks or something. Grams tried to explain it all, but she was looped on the liquor so I kind of tuned out. Crazy family, yes. Witches, I don't think so."

Speaking of tuning out . . . Rebecca decided she wasn't going to her last period. She really didn't feel up to dealing with Tanner. He was one annoyance she could deal without with the way she felt.

"You guys, I'm not feelin' so great. I'm gonna ditch. Will one of you stop by Tanner's after school and text me later with the homework?"

"Sure. Feel better," Bonnie said.

"Cool. See ya."

As Rebecca went toward her locker she saw Elena and Matt talking and redirected her route. She wanted to know how Vicki was.

"They're keeping her overnight, but she should be able to come home tomorrow."

"That's good news," Elena said. "Did you get in touch with your mom?"

"Called and left a message. She's in Virginia Beach with her boyfriend, so we'll see how long it takes her to come rushing home."

Rebecca had only met Ms. Donovan a few times and she didn't really care for her. Parents shouldn't ditch their kids for a boyfriend; the kids should come first. Ms. Donovan had been too much of a partier to actually settle down for Matt and Vicki.

"Vicki's lucky that she's okay," Rebecca said.

"I know. And now there's talk of some missing campers."

"Did she say what kind of animal it was that attacked her?" Elena asked.

"She said it was a vampire," Matt said sheepishly.

"What?" Rebecca and Elena said in unison.

"Yeah, she wakes up last night, mutters 'vampire' and passes out. I think she was drunk."

Vampire. Drunk or not, there that word was again. Rebecca had never believed in the supernatural, but now . . . Now she almost had no choice but to. God, she needed to talk to Bonnie's Grams.

"I really gotta go, but I'm glad she's okay, Matt."

"Thanks, Becca."

She gave him and Elena a brief hug and went on to her locker. Once she put away the things she didn't need she slammed the door shut. She was just about to walk away when she noticed there was an imprint of her fingers in the metal. She could _not_ have done that. The locker was made of metal and she was not that strong. But the way the metal was molded now, like something had been holding on too hard . . .

It was definitely time for her to talk to someone.

* * *

It was about a fifteen minute walk to Sheila Bennett's house and when Rebecca got there she got out the book Bonnie had given her. Then she knocked on the door.

When Sheila opened the door Rebecca handed her the book.

"What's happening?" she asked directly. "You gave Bonnie this book to give to me and now people are getting bitten. They say it's animals, but I saw the bite mark. No animal did that. What's going on?"

"I think you know, dear," Sheila said kindly. "Come inside. We can talk."

Rebecca nodded, took a deep breath, and stepped over the threshold. She knew that her life was beginning to change and she was a little terrified. Her life had been built on routine and now this, whatever _this_ was, was about to change everything.

Rebecca had always liked Sheila - she even went so far as to call her Grams sometimes too even though they weren't related in any way - but she had also never really believed in any of the stories Sheila had told Bonnie. Sheila was kind, though, and that was why Rebecca liked her. Sheila Bennett was a thin old woman, but she was also strong. She protected the people she cared about.

Rebecca sat on the couch with Sheila and the latter placed the _Vampire_ book on the coffee table in front of them. Rebecca stayed silent until she couldn't anymore.

"What's wrong with me? I've been . . . I don't know." Rebecca ran her hands through her hair, frustrated. "I feel like I'm going crazy. Sane people don't think the things I'm thinking now."

"You are _not_ crazy. You've been feeling strange, noticing things that other people haven't, doing things that seem impossible."

"I put a dent in my locker with my hand. I don't know how." She didn't know why she was admitting that out loud. She just felt like she needed to talk about it and since Sheila had been the one to make sure she got the book . . .

"You're getting stronger. You've been having the nightmares? They've started?"

"I'm -" Rebecca shook her head, still frustrated and confused. "I don't understand what's happening."

"The dreams you've been having, you're someone else. You fight in your dreams. Creatures?"

"Vampires," she whispered. "Is that what they are?"

"Yes. They come in the shape of humans. They feed on us. It's in their nature, it's what they do. They need blood to survive."

Sheila got up, went out of the room for a minute and then came back with a wooden stake. It was long and sharp and elaborately carved.

"But as long as there have been vampires, there has been the Slayer. Girls with the strength and the skill to kill them, to stop them. One dies, the next one is called. The last Slayer, a girl in California, died. You have been called."

Rebecca had dreamed of the girl in California. She'd been blond and short and green-eyed. She'd looked maybe twenty-four. She'd been so young.

"But I'm just . . . I'm just a girl. A seventeen-year-old girl. I can't -"

"Take this."

Sheila gave her the stake and she was amazed that the feel of it felt right, like it belonged in her hand. An odd awareness began to fill her; an incredible sense of power rushed through her and overwhelmed her.

Then she dropped the stake on the floor. No, this was not happening. This was not going to be her life; she was not going to spend the rest of her life chasing after things that weren't even supposed to exist in the first place.

"Why me? Why now?"

"The dreams start when something big is about to happen. You can't just walk away from this. You were called for a reason, Rebecca. Something is going to happen here, something big, and _you_ might be able to stop it."

"Big as in bad?"

Sheila looked at her sadly. "You already know the answer to that question. You need to train. You're getting all this new strength, and you could hurt someone if you don't know how to control it."

Rebecca bit her lip, concentrating on taking everything in. "How - how do you know all this?"

"Before I became a teacher I worked with the Watcher's council. That's a group of people who live in England. I was part of their coven. They have a group of Seers who keep up with the Slayer line. When they saw that you were being called here they contacted me by phone and told me I was to watch over you. Prepare you. I'm to act as Watcher until one is sent here for you."

"Watcher? Like a teacher?"

"More like a mentor, but yes."

"Vicki Donovan was attacked last night. Is _she_ gonna become a vampire?"

"No, baby. She has to die with vampire blood in her system. That's how you change into a vampire."

"What am I supposed to do? Wh -"

She covered her mouth as the first tear fell. She felt like screaming, much like she had the night before. She felt as Sheila wrapped her in a hug.

"You can cry here. Let it out."

Rebecca felt a dam break inside her and then she was sobbing. Why was this happening to _her_? Didn't she have enough to deal with? A baby sister, who was more like a daughter than a sister; a drunk father; having to be strong for both of them.

"Just let it out. You can handle this. You wouldn't have been called if you couldn't. You are strong and brave and good. Never forget that."

That made her cry harder. She cried until she literally couldn't anymore. Then she asked her question again: What was she supposed to do now?

"Try to act normal. Don't tell anyone anything. If a vampire finds out what you are . . . You won't be able to get a moment's rest. _They_ will begin hunting _you_."

"Okay." Like she could tell anyone anyway without them thinking she was insane. "Wh - what can I do to keep safe?"

"Well, they can't come in unless you invite them in. You can kill a vampire, stake to the heart, sunlight, decapitation, fire."

"Hm. Holy water? Crucifixes? Garlic?"

"Drinkable, decorative, edible."

"Hm."

"But I have something else for you. Wait here."

When Sheila got back Rebecca saw that she had a necklace in her hand. It was a regular gold chain with a cross that was about an inch in length.

"The cross won't help you, but the vervain inside will. Vampires have a way of compelling people to do what they want. But as long as you have vervain in you or on you they can't control you. There's liquid vervain in the necklace. If a vampire gets vervain in their system it makes them weak."

Rebecca scoffed softly. "I feel like I should be taking notes or something."

"No pop quizzes. Promise." Sheila helped her put the necklace on. "Keep this on you, okay?"

"Yeah. Okay."

* * *

Rebecca didn't want to go home so she texted Elena to see what she was up to. Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline were at the local café, so Rebecca decided to join them. When she got there she ordered herself a cappuccino and cinnamon bun. She couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten, and she was hungry.

As she sat with the three girls she realized they were talking about Stefan and Elena. Apparently he'd spent the night with her in her room. Finally, something normal to take Rebecca's mind off things.

"Becca, what's wrong, you look awful," Elena said sympathetically.

"I've been feeling off today. I'll be okay. You and Stefan? You were with him all night?"

"Yeah, but nothing happened."

"You and Stefan talked all night?" Caroline asked skeptically. "There was no sloppy first kiss or touchy-feely of any kind?"

"Nope, we didn't go there."

"Not even a handshake? I mean, Elena, we are your friends, okay? You are supposed to share the smut."

Rebecca laughed and it felt so good. Usually Caroline's annoying tendencies were, well, annoying, but at the moment Rebecca was glad and appreciative of Caroline's shallowness.

"We just talked for hours," Elena claimed.

"Okay, what is with the blockage? Just jump his bones already. Okay, it's easy. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, sex." Caroline smiled mischievously.

Bonnie, on the other hand, looked at Caroline like she was crazy. Bonnie, like Rebecca, was a virgin. They were both waiting for Mr. Right. And Rebecca hadn't had _time_ to get physical with guys. Now with her new . . . thing . . . she probably never would.

"Profound," Elena teased. But then Elena began to get up.

"Where're you going?" Rebecca asked.

"Caroline's right. It is easy. If I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out of it instead of doing what I started the day saying I was gonna do."

Then she walked away; Caroline looked smug.

"I guess she started the day saying she was going to jump Stefan Salvatore's bones," Rebecca said, rolling her eyes. She got a laugh from both of her friends.

"What about you?" Caroline asked Rebecca. "You and Mr. Blue Eyes?"

"Nothin' to tell, really. I like him, he's nice. He dropped me off at home and that's it. Dad flipped 'cause I got home late, and if there _was_ gonna be any 'sloppy first kiss', as you put it, Dad pretty much put a stop to it. He _did_ hint that he wanted to see me again, though."

"That's good news. What do you know about him?"

"I don't know. Just that he and Stefan are brothers, really. And he's playful, fun. Overconfident in that sexy type of way. And he gives me butterflies."

"Butterflies are also good," Bonnie said. "You think you like him enough to go out with him if he asked."

"Mm, too soon to tell. I'd try a friendship, though." To get the subject off of her she began a new conversation.

"So . . . Tomorrow night. Comet thing. What're we doing?"

"Meeting in the town square," Caroline said. "I'm meeting with Tyler and Matt after school to help set everything up. Candles, the painting booths for the kids, things like that."

"Hm. I have that tutoring thing or I'd help," Rebecca said.

Caroline did the community stuff because she wanted to be Miss Mystic Falls; Rebecca did the things she did for the simple fact that she liked to be helpful.

"You know, I was talking to Grams and she said the comet was a sign of impending doom. Last time it passed over Mystic Falls, there was lots of death. So much blood and carnage, it created a bed of paranormal activity."

That wasn't surprising. The last time the comet had passed over Mystic Falls had been during the Civil War, almost a century and a half ago.

"Mm. Yeah, then you poured Grams another shot and she told you 'bout the aliens," Caroline snarked.

"_Why_ do you do that?" Rebecca asked. "Other people's opinions besides yours might be valid, you know."

"No, Rebecca, it's fine," Bonnie said, trying to keep the peace.

"No, it's not. Every time we try to tell her something important she makes a bitchy little comment and then we can't talk anymore."

Rebecca shook her head and got up. She realized that what she'd said had probably - definitely - hurt Caroline's feelings, but she wasn't going to apologize for telling the truth.

* * *

On the way home Rebecca ran into Stefan. He caught up with her when she was halfway there.

"Hey, Elena said you were feeling sick?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm good now." Not that it was his business. "Um . . . Did you want something?"

"I wanted to talk to you, actually. About Damon."

"Okay." She drew the word out. "What about him?"

"Look, I can't tell you what to do, but he likes to play games, Rebecca. He wants what he wants and he doesn't care who he hurts in the process. If - if he's being nice to you, it's because he needs you for something. He'll end up hurting you."

Rebecca blinked a few times. _What_ had happened to make Stefan act this way? Was Damon really that bad?

"Um . . . Thanks, but I like to make my own judgments. So far, he seems okay."

"I'm just warning you to be careful around him, okay?"

"Uh-huh." She sighed. "Look, if you're talking about the sweet talk and the eyes and the cockiness . . . I get it. But I'm not some school girl with a crush."

Technically she _was_, but she was also smart enough to know that Damon was just messing with her, and half the things that he said were spoken in a teasing sort of way.

"Uh, Elena was going to your house to look for you, so . . ."

Rebecca only said that to see if it would make him leave her alone; it worked like a charm. Apparently he really was worried about Damon and he didn't want Elena alone with him.

She smiled as Stefan walked away and she had an immature urge to stick her tongue out at his retreating back. She appreciated the concern, really, she did, but she was good at looking out for herself. Except for the recent weirdness that was her dad, Rebecca had pretty much been left to her own devices as a kid. Her mom had been more of a friend than a parent, and as long as Rebecca hadn't screwed up too bad her dad had never really taken an interest in her life. As long as she hadn't made the family look bad, he hadn't really cared. He'd loved laying down the law, of course, but she thought that was a male thing.

She'd been happier with that arrangement. It was better that way. Better than the constant watch he had her under now. Now her home was like a prison to her, which was why she tried to stay away from it as much as possible. She might've asked if she could move in with Elena or Bonnie if she hadn't had Chelsea to look after.

* * *

When she got home she heard her dad arguing with someone - he was on the phone if the lack of response was anything to go by. This time it was because she'd skipped history. Okay, maybe he had a legitimate reason to yell this time. The problem was her dad was drinking and when he drank he tended to lose his head a bit. He had never hurt her physically but he still said hurtful things. Things he claimed not to remember later.

"It's the first week of school and I'm already getting calls from the principal," her dad yelled.

Like she expected, he was on the phone.

"Let it go?" he said. "If I don't nip this thing -"

"Hi, Dad," Rebecca interrupted. "I skipped history because I wasn't feeling well. I checked myself out and -"

"Why didn't you come home?" he asked. "Did something happen? You look like you've been crying."

"No, I'm okay." She headed to her room. "Going to bed."

"The sun's still out," he said suspiciously.

"Yeah, I can see that."

Once in her room she flopped down on her bed and again felt like something in her was going to break.

"No, no, no," she whispered to herself.

She pulled one of her pillows close to her chest and took a deep breath. It made her chest hurt. She realized she was . . . achingly lonely.

Suddenly she knew what she needed. Sleep. Uninterrupted, dreamless sleep. You can't be lonely if you're asleep. She got her cell phone out and dialed Jeremy Gilbert's number.

"What's up, Becca?"

She scoffed because she could tell he was stoned.

"Hey, Jer, look . . . You know I hate asking, but do you have any sleeping pills? I've been having bad dreams, so nothing that'll make me hallucinate, but I need to rest. If it can control pain too, that would be great. A low dosage should do."

"I can get them for you. When do you need 'em?"

"Tonight would be good. Meet me at my bedroom window?"

"Sure. I'll be there in an hour."

"Great. You're a life saver."

Rebecca had barely hung up when her cell phone began vibrating. She didn't know the number on the screen but she answered anyway.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Rebecca."

She smiled as Damon's deep, rich voice filled the line, but then . . . "How'd you get my cell number?"

"I'm stalking you," he said simply and she rolled her eyes. Then he laughed. "Your information card fell out of your book bag; I found it in my car."

This time she laughed. "Oh, okay, that makes sense. Did you want something or did you just miss the sound of my voice?"

"I was actually calling to see what you were doing tomorrow night for the comet."

She opened her mouth but didn't say anything for a second because she'd been taken by surprise. Then, "Oh, um, I don't know. I was supposed to meet Caroline, Bonnie, and Elena tomorrow, but I kind of went off on Caroline, so I don't know if I'm gonna." She smirked a little. "Unless you're asking me."

"Do you want me to?" he asked. Or teased, more precisely.

"I wouldn't hate it," she said vaguely. "Say the words and I'm there."

Damon was silent for a few seconds and she imagined that he was trying to figure out if he could take her at face value. She also imagined he had that same vulnerable, open expression she'd seen yesterday.

"I'll pick you up from school; we can have dinner again," he finally said.

"Um . . . I get out at four-thirty."

"That's a little late," he mused. "Do you have detention or something?"

"I tutor some of the students. Makes me feel useful."

"And it keeps you away from home," Damon observed. "I didn't get you in trouble last night, did I?"

She groaned at his semi-regretful tone. "No, my dad's just an ass. And a control freak. I mean, really, he chooses _now_ as the time to take an interest in my life? I think I liked it better when he was indifferent."

"He's a real quality timer, huh?"

"Something like that." Rebecca chuckled. "My mom was okay, but she lived in her own world sometimes. She tried, I know she did, but . . . I'm tired. Ignore me. I'm not going to complain to some guy I just met."

When Rebecca didn't get an answer right away, she checked to make sure her phone was still working. It wasn't dead; she still had three bars and she hadn't lost the signal.

"Damon?" No answer. "Did you fall asleep or something?"

She heard him laugh. "I'm ignoring you. Your words, remember?"

"I meant my whole parent speech. Ignore _that_. Jerk," she finished lightly.

"Okay, number one: Ow. I am offended by that. And two: I know what you meant."

"Well, good. Hm." She swallowed back a yawn and then sighed. "Damon, what happened between you and Stefan? I mean, there's family drama and then there's . . . you guys. He actually tracked me down earlier to _warn_ me about you."

"Ah, what did St. Stefan have to say?" Damon's voice was harder now. Just from the mention of Stefan's name.

"He said you like to play games, which I figured out already. All your flirty comments, I already know not to take them seriously. But he said that if you're being nice to me . . . it's because you want something from me."

"What do you think?" Damon asked.

Rebecca could tell that the way she answered this question would determine how Damon would treat her in the future. So the question became what should she say?

"Well . . . I don't know. Yet. I withhold my opinion. But I did tell Stefan to shove it. In a nice way, of course."

"Ooh, I like you. Anyone who tells Stefan off is good in my book."

Apparently she'd passed that test.

* * *

Damon enjoyed - if that was the right word - talking to Rebecca. She was honest and she kept surprising him because of it. One of the reasons he hadn't eaten her yet was because she was interesting to him. She did smell very appetizing, though. Maybe he could just take a few sips and make her forget afterwards.

He hadn't lied to her about wanting to know if she had plans for tomorrow night. He was bored and when he got bored . . . Well, that was when the trouble started.

Then just 'say the words and I'm there'. Honest, open, friendly. It was going to get her hurt, get her heart broken one day. Not that he cared; it was just an observation he'd made.

Not to mention, she didn't fall for Stefan's annoying good brother routine. She was smart enough to see through his high and mighty act. Damon's act was less transparent, but she still saw through some of it.

Damon had found out Rebecca was a Vampire Slayer. It wasn't her fault; she didn't have a choice. In fact, it was probably his and Stefan's fault. Girls who were called were called because vampires were around. They weren't just picked randomly, it didn't happen by chance.

Rebecca, however, wasn't a threat no matter what she was. Yet, anyway. She hadn't even started training or decided that she wanted to. She was only seventeen and she'd just had the whole world thrown onto her shoulders. He wondered if she knew what she was getting herself into, and how long she'd survived once she got into it. Damon even wondered if _he'd_ be the one to kill her when the time came.

Rebecca was okay. For a human. She wasn't nosy or bitchy or annoying. No, she was pure and sweet and chaste, and Damon almost felt sorry for messing with her. But vampires were drawn to people like that. It was in their nature to destroy people like that. Dark destroys light; light destroys dark. That was the way of the world. Back when he and Stefan had been turned, Stefan would've killed Rebecca right away. He wouldn't have been able to stop himself.

Damon had always had more control than Stefan; it had been almost disgusting to have to watch Stefan drool over every human that had walked by. It was funny that Damon used to be the good one, and now Stefan was always suspicious of what Damon was up to.

It wasn't a one way street, though. Neither brother really trusted the other. Stefan had made sure of that 145 years ago with Katherine.

* * *

After spending more than a fair amount of time on the phone with Damon, Rebecca turned her TV onto one of the music channels. She also got out her new vampire book and played with the spine. She didn't really know if she wanted to open the book, open that can of worms just yet. But she needed to. She needed to know why this was happening; she needed to know about everything. She had to know what to look out for.

She knew the basics. Vampires couldn't walk in the sun, fire wasn't their friend, decapitation, stake to the heart. They needed blood to survive.

She knew she needed to start training. She needed to be ready just in case something happened. She'd _seen_ that she was stronger even though she didn't particularly feel stronger. She felt _bad_. She didn't feel like she was strong enough to do anything but lay there on the bed and sleep.

When Jeremy finally got there she was relieved. She was hopeful that the pills would help her relax and sleep without dreams. She didn't ask where or how he'd gotten the pills, she was just thankful he had them.

* * *

Okay, there it is. The latest installment. What did you guys think? This is kind of a filler chapter. I needed it to explain all the Slayer stuff. As you can see Rebecca is the type that seems to think she has to be on top of everything all the time. She thinks she has to be strong all the time, but everyone has their breaking point and I think finding out there are dead-not-dead people running out is hers. LOL


	4. Chapter 4

I know I said it would be a while, but I put a chapter of Supernatural up, so I thought I could put a chapter up for this one too. Next is Twilight but that's gonna take a few days.

Anyway, thanks to those of you who have reviewed and to those of you who have put me on their alert thing or their favorites list. It's much appreciated.

Chapter Four

The next day at school time seemed to fly by. Rebecca wasn't as dazed because she'd actually gotten some sleep. She was actually able to put up with Caroline. Rebecca felt she _had_ to get along with her because Rebecca didn't want to apologize, but she wanted to make amends anyway.

Rebecca listened when Elena started talking about how Jeremy had already ditched six of his classes that year. She also talked about Stefan and his odd behavior when she'd gone to see him the day before.

"He's on the rebound and he has raging family issues."

Elena, Bonnie, and Rebecca were in Study Hall, which was held in the library. They were printing out flyers for the comet thing being held that night.

"Well, I knew the second one," Rebecca said. "Damon doesn't even like to _talk_ about Stefan."

Bonnie smiled sympathetically in Elena's direction. "Did he call you to apologize?"

"No. Then I realized we never even really exchanged that stuff. We never got to the calling or texting part."

"That's an important milestone in any relationship," Bonnie said.

"Isn't it?" Elena shrugged. "The timing was wrong anyway."

"When is it ever right?"

"I'm not ready, Bonnie."

"Who is?"

"At least I put myself out there," Elena said, sounding irritated. "I mean, I went to his house and he practically shoved me out the door."

"Well, screw him then," Rebecca said. "It's his loss."

"Maybe he was just having a bad day," Bonnie said, giving Stefan the benefit of the doubt.

"Or maybe he has a split personality," Rebecca teased. "No, it was probably just that Damon was there with you. I've asked Damon what happened between them, but he wouldn't say."

Technically he had avoided the subject. When she'd asked him, he'd answered by asking a question of his own.

* * *

The tutoring session that day was slow. Rebecca _had_ gone through everything that her group had given her, but she hadn't had time to do any lesson planning; she just made them do their homework and had helped when they'd needed it.

That didn't matter, though. What mattered was the excited little feeling she got when she saw the blue Camaro pull up in the school parking lot. Her session had ended and she wasn't responsible for her group anymore, so she got her things together and went to the car.

Once she was situated she realized he was listening to some soft rock group. She didn't know who they were but the music was still good so she didn't mind.

"How do you feel about sugar?" Damon asked.

She grinned at him. "Sugar's _amazing_. Why?"

"I thought we could go to the bakery, eat something sweet, and go into a sugar coma."

"Good plan, bad ending." She laughed and shook her head.

She finally took him in. She looked at his crystal blue eyes first; there was amusement there. Then she took in the rest of him. He was in his usual black attire. She noticed he had a silver and blue ring and she commented on it.

"It's Lapis Lazuli; it protects me."

"Protects you?"

"Yeah. It's a long story."

Damon hadn't really seemed to be the superstitious type, but . . . with all the attacks lately maybe he needed it as a precaution or something. Whatever made him feel better, she guessed.

"Lapis lazuli. Where'd you get it?"

"Stefan has one too. There's a little S in the middle for Salvatore."

"Hm."

Then she touched his hair. It was soft and messy today. It surprised her, but he almost moved back from her touch. It was almost like he wasn't used to anyone touching him out of kindness, or he'd been suspicious of why she was touching him. She didn't say anything about it but she did put it in the back of her mind so she could think about it later.

"You have bed hair," she teased lightly, drawing her hand back. "In the middle of the day."

His black strands were shaggy almost; it was sexy, though - he pulled it off very well. She just hadn't liked that it had fallen in his face. His eyes were too beautiful to hide.

She realized that he was holding onto the steering wheel tightly enough for his skin to turn whiter than it already was. Damon wasn't too pale by any means, but now he seemed to be conflicted and his hands' color was paying the price.

Maybe he didn't like being touched or something.

"I'm sorry," she said sincerely. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, Damon."

Her fingertips were still tingling from where she'd touched him and she wondered what that was about. It happened every time there was physical contact between them. And maybe that was the whole problem. Damon had felt it too.

Damon suddenly turned his face away from her and she heard his teeth grind as he clenched his jaw. He took a few deep breaths and then he seemed fine. She had no idea what had just happened and Damon had ways of avoiding questions so she didn't even ask.

* * *

Once at the bakery they got a table and she ordered two chocolate éclairs. Damon decided to get the same. She insisted on paying this time and he let her.

"So, night of the comet, huh?" Damon said. "Why's it so special?"

She shrugged. "It passed over 145 years ago, hasn't been back since. 'Til now. Personally I don't care about it. I came because you asked me to."

"Well, shouldn't I feel special?" he teased.

"Definitely. Because I'm amazing like that."

Damon's lips twitched like he was fighting back a smile and she grinned at him. She was glad he wasn't acting weird now. The ride here from the school had been awkward; Damon had been distant after the whole teeth-clenching incident. His eyes weren't distant anymore; he was there with her.

Onto a more serious note . . . "Is Elena gonna be safe with Stefan? Emotionally, I mean. She's been through a lot this past summer and she doesn't need anymore drama right now. You told her that he was on the rebound, so is she . . ." Rebecca bit her lip before continuing. "Is that what she is to him?"

Damon looked at her for a moment, like he was considering what exactly to say. "Stefan would never intentionally hurt her. If he did he'd feel guilty about it _forever_."

Rebecca nodded knowingly. "Ah, I pegged him for that type. I think my exact thought was 'he's the I'm-dark-and-broody-so-give-me-love type'."

"Couldn't have put it better myself."

Things fell into a comfortable silence and she looked out the window. Kids were playing in the grass across the street; the parents were laughing and keeping watch of their children; there was a face painting booth along with food stands - the popcorn stand was busy. People were setting up chairs and picnic places.

She didn't get what the big deal was. It was just a comet. She thought a meteor shower would've been more exciting herself.

"Why'd you ask?" Damon asked, drawing her out of her reverie.

"Hm?"

"About Elena and Stefan."

"Oh, um, Elena told me about what happened with you guys when she went to your house. She said that he practically shoved her out the door."

"Yeah, he did."

"He's really a people person, huh?" She shook her head. "I think she thinks it was her fault, something she did."

"Mm, no," Damon said. "Our family problems started a _long_ time ago. Not her fault."

She smiled. She realized she did that a lot when she was around Damon. She didn't know why, but she felt at ease around him. She could almost ignore her being-watched feelings. This was different than the easy feelings she had with Elena and Bonnie. She'd felt something shift in her the moment she'd met Damon. It was odd and scary, but also comforting.

"Is this for real? You being nice and sweet?"

He smirked. "I can be very nice and very sweet when I want to be. But I also have moments where I can be the complete opposite. Depends on which Damon I feel like being at the moment."

"Uh-oh. Split personality; not good. Might just have to watch out for that." Rebecca couldn't help but think of what she'd said about Stefan - she had joked about him having a split personality. Maybe it ran in the family.

Once they finished their snacks they left. It was getting dark and they decided to go get a seat on the grass. Damon had a blanket in his car so he went to get it while she mingled.

She saw Caroline talking to a few of her cheerleading friends; Bonnie had just walked into the Grill, and Vicki and Jeremy were talking at the entrance. Rebecca decided to go talk to Vicki because she wanted to know if the girl was okay. And she wanted to know if she remembered anything.

"Hey, Vicki. How're you doing?" She stopped by Jeremy's side. "Matt said you were getting out today."

Rebecca wasn't exactly friends with Vicki - she didn't like how Vicki played with Jeremy's emotions - but she liked her enough to say hi to.

"I'm okay. Fighting with my boss about my schedule. You'd think getting ripped up by a rabid animal would merit an extra sick day."

"Well, you feelin' okay?" Jeremy asked.

"I hurt."

Rebecca wanted to see the bite mark again but there was a bandage over it.

"The doctor . . . gave you something, right?"

"The kid stuff. Nothin' with an O in it. I think they were onto me."

Jeremy and Vicki grinned before he gave her an orange medicine bottle. Rebecca looked around to make sure nobody important was watching; this wasn't exactly a legal thing she was a part of.

"Here, knock yourself out. Literally."

"Thanks, Jer."

Vicki looked at Rebecca before she took one of the pills. Rebecca knew it was because Vicki wasn't sure what Rebecca thought about stuff like that. That was one good thing about Vicki; she didn't push drugs on other people.

"Hey, I had to ask him for pills too. Go ahead if it'll make you feel better."

Vicki grinned and nodded her way. "Cool. You here with someone?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm here with -" she stopped to look around and jumped a little when a hand landed on her arm.

"Me."

"Him," she said, taking a breath. How did he do that? Jeeze. "Damon, this is Vicki and Jeremy. Jeremy is Elena's younger brother."

"Oh, hi," he said, smiling politely.

"Hey."

Then Vicki just looked at Damon. "I know you."

"Well, that's unfortunate," Damon said.

"Uh, I don't - I don't know how, but your face . . ."

Vicki shook her head and Rebecca arched an eyebrow at the girl's behavior. Vicki excused herself and headed to the bathroom.

"She knows you," Rebecca said. "Or recognizes you."

"I've seen her around," Damon sort of answered. "It's a small town, everybody recognizes everybody else."

"Hm."

Something was trying to make its way into Rebecca's mind, but she wasn't ready to think about what her mind was trying to think about, so she distracted herself . . . with Elena, who had been holding a candle across the street - everyone over there had one - and talking to Stefan. Elena had just walked away from him and Rebecca could tell, even from this distance, that Elena was upset.

"Um, Damon, I'll be right back. I have to make sure she's okay."

"Take your time. I'll go get a drink or something."

"Okay, thanks."

Then she took off after Elena. She found that it was easier to push through the crowd than it normally was for her. Slayer strength came in handy, she realized.

"Elena, wait!" Rebecca caught up with her quickly enough. "Don't go, okay? Forget Stefan for an hour or two. We can find Bonnie and Matt and even Caroline. We'll have drama free fun, okay?"

"Um . . ." Elena looked uncertain. "I don't know, Becca, I . . ."

"Oh, come on! We don't let guys ruin our lives." Rebecca grinned. "Right? Now, let's go."

Elena's lips formed a tight smile and she sighed in defeat. "Fine."

"Good."

Rebecca grabbed Elena's arm carefully - Grams' warning that she could hurt someone because she was getting stronger kept running through her head - and led her into the Grill.

* * *

Rebecca's promise of a drama-filled hour of fun turned out to be an unintentional lie. Vicki went missing, Damon disappeared - he had a tendency to do that- Jeremy was accused of being a drug dealer, and Tyler was accused of forcing himself on Vicki - Rebecca exhibited no surprise at the last one.

Rebecca, Elena, Bonnie, Caroline, Matt, Tyler, and Jeremy spent about thirty minutes looking for her, only for her to turn up wondering around the town square. She'd ripped her stitches open from where she'd been bitten, but luckily she wasn't bleeding that bad. She didn't even seem that hurt, but she was high, so that might've been why.

Matt was now re-bandaging Vicki's wound and making sure she was okay. Stefan walked in and Matt thanked him; Stefan had been the one to bring Vicki back.

"Ugh! Just so much drama," Caroline complained. "Ever notice how the druggies are the biggest attention whores?"

Then Caroline glanced at Rebecca almost like she was scared Rebecca would snap.

Rebecca grinned; out of all the people she knew she was the only one who put Caroline in her place when it was needed. "It's okay, Care. I'm in a better mood today."

"Oh, good," she said relieved. "Yesterday you were acting really freaky."

"Yes, I was. I wasn't feeling well." That was as close to an apology that Caroline was going to get from her.

Then Stefan walked over and asked if they'd seen Elena.

"I think she went home," Bonnie said regretfully. "I'm gonna give you Elena's cell number and her e-mail. She is big on texting, and you can tell her I said so."

"Thank you," he said quietly.

Bonnie handed Stefan a slip of paper with the information on it but yanked her hand back and just stared at him for a minute.

"You okay?" Stefan and Rebecca asked at the same time.

"What happened to you?" Bonnie asked softly. Then she snapped out of it. "That was so rude. Excuse me, sorry."

Bonnie walked off, leaving Stefan and Caroline confused, and leaving Rebecca wanting to know what Bonnie had seen.

"Yeah, she kind of wigs out. It's, like, her thing," Caroline explained.

Rebecca didn't even say anything about that; she knew that Caroline didn't believe in the boogedy-boogedy world. That was her prerogative. Rebecca didn't have a choice but to believe.

Stefan looked after Bonnie, concerned. Rebecca couldn't say anything in the way of explanation because Stefan wouldn't understand unless she spelt it out for him. Then he began walking away.

"Uh, wait here," Rebecca told Caroline. "I promise I'll be back."

Then she went after Stefan and caught him at the door. She wasn't being pushy; she was just concerned.

"Stefan, uh, I have to say something."

He turned to her and looked at her, very focused. Jeeze. It wasn't like it was life-altering, what she was about to say. But at least he was paying attention.

"What is it?"

"Elena has a lot of friends who really care about her. I know I don't know you very well, but you act a little strange. I just thought you should know that Elena's like a sister to me, and I take care of what's mine. So please don't hurt her."

It wasn't a threat; it was a warning. She wasn't much into violence by design - she'd need to get over that, she guessed - but there were other ways to make someone miserable. Rebecca wasn't spiteful by nature, but she was very protective of the people she loved. Her friends were actually her family.

Instead of being offended, Stefan smiled. "I promise you, I have no intention of hurting Elena. I'm impressed that you care about her so much."

Rebecca shrugged and grimaced at the same time.

"Okay, now that that's out of the way . . . We should start over. I can forget all the weird stuff that's happened and give you a clean slate. As long as you know where I stand."

"I do," Stefan said sincerely. "It's good you're looking out for her."

She smiled. "Okay, good. So -" she stuck her hand out "- hi, I'm Rebecca."

Stefan accepted her hand and shook. "Hi, I'm Stefan. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise." She sighed then. "Is Damon still around? He has my stuff in his car again. It's beginning to be a habit."

"Um . . . I'm not sure, but if you can't find him, I can bring your stuff to you tomorrow at school."

"Good. Thanks." She said good-bye to Stefan and then went back to Caroline to do the same. "I'm gonna head home."

"Yeah, me too." Caroline stood up. "Do you need a ride?"

"No, I'm good. If Damon isn't here, I'll just walk."

"Okay, well, see you tomorrow."

Like the night of the party, Damon's car was still there so she got her stuff from inside. Then she texted him to see where exactly he was. She didn't get an answer. Part of her was angry; part of her was okay with it because _she_ had left _him_ to take care of Elena; the rest of her was worried that something might've happened to him.

She worried a lot, she realized.

She texted him again to let him know she was walking home and she wanted him to call when he could just so she would know he was okay.

On the way home Rebecca heard this incessant _cawing_. Weren't birds supposed to be quiet in the dark? She grabbed at her jacket and wrapped it tighter around her. It was mid September and it could get chilly at night.

And she still felt like she was being watched. What _was_ that? Was it her being paranoid? Possible, she guessed.

Then she started hearing footsteps and she stopped walking. The footsteps stopped too. Someone was following her. She then continued, only more quickly. She didn't know how she knew, but she _knew_ when the person was right behind her and she turned around instinctively and swung her fist as she went.

Whoever it was went down.

The person was female. Light brown hair with gray streaks. And an already purple area was appearing on her jaw. She was dressed in a gray business suit and she'd cried out when Rebecca had hit her.

"Oh, God! Are you okay? You scared me."

She helped the woman up and she realized she'd hit an older person. Forty or forty-five maybe.

"Glad to see you're on you're toes," the woman said. "I'm Ms. Gleeson, Watcher."

Watcher? No. Rebecca wasn't ready to make this decision. She didn't want to have to think about this yet.

"You need to be prepared. Most girls are trained all their lives. You need to start training now. Tomorrow after school."

Tomorrow was Friday. She didn't have anything to do tomorrow, but training and fighting wasn't really on her to-do list either.

"Meet me at this address." She handed Rebecca a piece of paper. It was an address to one of the warehouses that had been abandoned downtown.

"I don't have a car. It'll take a while for me to get there."

"I can pick you up from school. Take you there."

"Fine," Rebecca said, not seeing any point in arguing. "Two-thirty."

* * *

When Rebecca got home she was surprised to see that Chelsea was already there. It wasn't bad; it saved her from having to go get her. She was just surprised. Her aunt Tina was there too.

"Uh . . . Hi."

Tina was Jessica's older sister by about 3 years. Tina had the same green eyes Rebecca did; her mother had had green eyes too.

"Your father called me. Said you might need help, that you've been acting strange."

Rebecca smiled, but she was still confused. "Uh, I guess maybe I have."

Tina had been holding Chelsea but when the baby had seen Rebecca she'd reached for her. Rebecca took her automatically and kissed her cheek. She was a little warm.

"Is she running a fever?"

"She's fine. I'm here to help, I hope you don't mind."

It was weird, but Rebecca _did_ mind. Chelsea was her responsibility, not anyone else's. She was maybe a little possessive of her things and her people, but . . . she thought that was okay.

"Are you living here now?"

"For a while. It's just a trial run."

Tina didn't have any children of her own and she could work from home, so Rebecca knew she'd be there for Chelsea when _she_ couldn't, but there was still the thing of not wanting to share with other people.

"Well, I guess it makes sense," she said begrudgingly. "I do have a busy year ahead of me."

Rebecca liked her aunt, she did, but Tina hadn't been around much since her mother had died and having her here now in the house, living there, would destroy Rebecca's much needed routine.

"I guess we should put the little one to bed."

"Oh, she sleeps in my room."

"That's gonna bite you in the butt sooner or later, she's going to have trouble sleeping without you."

"I don't mind."

* * *

The next afternoon Rebecca went with Ms. Gleeson to the warehouse like she'd said she would. The Watcher had lesson plans for her training and Rebecca was able to look through them. Rebecca was glad she'd taken gymnastics for the past three years. She was sure her body wouldn't have been able to move as well if she hadn't.

Rebecca learned that Ms. Gleeson's first name was Diana and that she was relentless. Even when Rebecca thought she would fall over from exhaustion Diana pressed her for more. Diana said it would keep her alive, going on when she thought she couldn't.

They spent the weekend sparring, both going back and forth. Rebecca would almost win but it was never enough. Rebecca knew she could just pick Diana up and toss the Watcher across the room and win, but she didn't want to hurt the woman. She already felt a pang of guilt every time she saw the bruise on the woman's face.

Diana was also a great lecturer; Rebecca learned more than she'd ever wanted to know about vampires. Vampires got more powerful with age; they looked human until they fed; most of their emotions led to hunger - they couldn't help it, it was their curse; vampires had short tempers - they could be fine one minute and then snap the next.

Diana never ran out of things to tell her. Diana wasn't hard to get along with exactly, but Rebecca wasn't comfortable around her. Diana was stuffy and British and she expected nothing but perfection from Rebecca.

As the first week went by Rebecca became more and more worn out - mentally and physically. She began sleeping in class and her grades began slipping. Everyone was noticing how different she was becoming. She'd withdrawn from life. She no longer tutored because she couldn't find any pleasure in it. She didn't do anything, really, except train. She tried being there for her friends, she still helped them and was there for them when they needed her, but it was so hard lying to them about what was going on with her. Rebecca was innately honest, so it wasn't easy for her to be sneaky.

Elena and Bonnie were worried; Caroline speculated; Stefan brooded; Damon popped in and out of her life whenever it suited him and she got used to it. The only person she could really talk to was Sheila. Sheila, who was a witch, and had all these witch-y books. A Book of Shadows, something outsiders weren't supposed to see but Sheila didn't mind Rebecca seeing since she already knew the Bennett secret.

"Do these actually work?" Rebecca asked, looking at the book. "They sound like poems to me."

"Those are the English translations. In the original Latin they don't sound so poetic."

"Hm." She began reading through some of the spells.

_Hear these words, hear the rhyme  
Heed the hope within my mind  
Send me back to where I'll find  
What I wish in place and time_

"You shouldn't read those out loud," Sheila warned. "They don't always work, but they can . . ."

Whatever the spell could do . . . Rebecca didn't find out because everything faded out. Sheila's voice, the room she was in. She'd fainted . . . and then woke up on a dirt road, with a carriage - horse and buggy, what the hell? - near her. A man was tapping her lightly on the face and speaking quite urgently to someone else.

Rebecca opened her eyes, dazed, and sat up.

"Keep still, you may have broken something."

She saw the voice belonged to an older man - her dad's age maybe. He was dressed in period clothes from the late 1800s, and she closed her eyes again briefly thinking maybe she wasn't really awake.

What the hell was going on? Where was she? When was she? Then she heard a muffled scream and her eyes shot open. The older man's companion was . . . Being bitten by a vampire. And _just like that_ she sprung into action. Part of her wanted to say 'give me a break' but she didn't.

There were woods on either side of her so she yanked at a sturdy branch. It came away easily in her hands. There was nothing she could do for the now dead victim, but she could still save the other man. She kicked the vampire in the head and the creature fell to the ground. Instinctively, she slammed the wood through its heart and she stared, morbidly curious, as the creature turned gray and crusty. It had . . . Mummified. So that was what a dead vampire looked like.

She just stared. She was . . . fascinated in a very bad way. Part of her was giddy because _she'd done it_. Easily. The other part was in shock because she'd killed somebody. Someone was dead - really dead, not up-walking-around dead - because of her.

"Miss?" The older man's voice was far away, but she could still tell he'd been startled. "Are you well?"

Rebecca wasn't able to respond; everything went dark. She'd fainted again.

* * *

Okay, that spell does not belong to me - it's from Charmed. I promise that her being back in time is not going to change Damon in any drastic way. I like him how he is, sarcasm and homicidal tendencies and all, I wouldn't change him even if I could. And she''ll only be back there for maybe 5-ish chapters and that's only because I draw things out.

Let me know what you think! Thanks.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

_Rebecca was in the woods. She knew she was getting ready to die, to be killed. The creature in front of her had fangs and red eyes and there were veins protruding under them. It was a vampire, a hunter, a predator. Rebecca was the prey._

_She was frozen, not able to breathe. She was terrified but accepting of the fact that she was meant to die this way; she was the Slayer, after all. She'd accepted her duty but that didn't mean she wanted to die. No, no, she was seventeen. She didn't want to die._

_The vampire lunged and -_

Rebecca startled awake and realized she was in a carriage with they guy she'd saved. Like she'd thought before . . . He did look around her dad's age. Late forties, early fifties. He had dark hair with gray throughout.

"How are you feeling?" The man's voice was stilted. He was probably pretending he wasn't afraid anymore.

"I'm okay." She was not going to go on about how she was not okay at all to someone she didn't really know.

"That was a vampire you killed, wasn't it?" he asked.

"Yes," she whispered. "Sir," she added as an after thought. And then it registered . . . "You don't seem terribly surprised by that."

"Demons have inhabited these parts and the surrounding areas for a while now. It's the war; the bleeding soldiers draw them in."

"War? Where am I? What year is this?"

"Mystic Falls, Virginia. 1864." The man looked at her strangely. "Did you hit your head?"

"I'm . . . I don't know."

1864? How the hell . . .? The damn spell. It had actually worked. Oh, God. She was really back in time. She was in 1864 . . . She'd done a time traveling spell?

"Do you know who you are? And the state of your dress . . ."

"Um . . . Rebecca. My name is Rebecca." Though she couldn't explain why she was in a t-shirt and jeans. And the sneakers? Nope, she couldn't explain that. "I don't . . . know how I got here."

"You fought that demon with such ease," the man said, awed. "You do that often?"

"First time for me."

"Do you have a place to stay?"

Rebecca shook her head. "No." Obviously she didn't because she wasn't supposed to know how she'd ended up here.

"Well, you do now," the man said firmly. "I'm Giuseppe Salvatore."

Salvatore? This man was an ancestor to the Salvatore's she knew in the future? Or her present? How would that work exactly?

"Stone is my last name." Her family was not one of the founding families, so she was safe to give her last name.

Rebecca fell silent then and tried to focus on anything but the fact that she was now in 1864 and had no way of getting back home.

God, she was going to freak out.

No, no, she was going to focus on the fact that it was nighttime and the temperature was nice. But there was the usual Virginia humidity. Apparently that never changed.

Crap, it wasn't working.

She _needed_ to get back home. If not for herself, than for Chelsea. Yeah, the girl had Tina now, but Chelsea was used to Rebecca. She didn't know how her sister would react to her not being there.

"I may have clothes for you to wear. We can get you fitted for more when you're feeling better."

1864 clothes? As in corsets and gowns and _ew_! She knew that wasn't what she should be worried about, but she didn't want to focus on the fact that she didn't know how to get back home.

God, her father. He was probably freaking out. Though some time away might do him some good, she wasn't sure. And her friends, especially Bonnie and Elena. And, uh . . . Oh, Sheila. She'd disappeared from Sheila's house because she'd . . . read a spell out loud.

Note to self: Don't read magic books out loud. Ever.

Eventually Rebecca and Giuseppe pulled up to a beautiful white Colonial house. Once inside the house, Giuseppe ordered one of his servants to show Rebecca to a guest room; he promised her a tour when she felt better.

She'd be able to take everything in better later. The only thing she wanted to do now was be alone and cry.

* * *

The next morning Rebecca awoke feeling _not _rested and saw someone was in her room. Another servant, probably, there to help her get dressed. Mr. Salvatore had done what he'd said and found her some dresses. She wondered who they belonged to.

She was grateful that they were very simple. Yes, there were corsets, but there was no hoop; there were, however, layers upon layers to make the bottom poofy.

"Mizz Stone, feelin' better?" The servant's speech made her 'better' sound like 'bettah'.

"Yes. Um . . . Who are you?"

A colored woman - shudder, she was back in the slave days - of course. Rebecca smiled and grimaced at the same time.

"Sorry, Mizz. Tabitha is my name."

"Tabitha." The woman was wearing a brown loose-fitting dress. She was heavy-set but healthy looking. But her face was worn; she'd had a hard life. "You can call me Rebecca."

She looked a little shocked, Tabitha did. She probably wasn't used to people being nice to her. Just because of her skin color.

"When you're finished dressing Master Salvatore would like to see you downstairs. Just follow the smell of breakfast."

"Okay, I'll be there shortly."

Tabitha left the room - she'd obviously only been there to see that Rebecca woke without a problem.

Rebecca picked a simple long-sleeved blue dress that flowed down her ankles. She left her hair down, but brushed it when she found a soft-bristled brush on the vanity set in the room.

Her room was big enough for a chamber pot - God, she was going to miss plumbing and electricity and all the other modern conveniences she was used to.

_God, I really am back in time_, she thought, not for the first time. How was she going to pull this off? She was a seventeen-year-old who had been living in 2009. She didn't know how to be an 1864 girl.

She hid her cell phone because it was useless here _and_ because if anyone saw her with it they'd probably think she was a witch. She then did as Tabitha had requested and followed her nose. Surprisingly, the food smelled familiar. Eggs, bacon, sausage. Normal stuff.

Normal flew out the window when she got to the dining room because Stefan Salvatore - the Stefan from her time period - was seated at the table. His hair was different, but it was still undeniably him.

When Giuseppe, who was also there, noticed her presence he and Stefan rose out of politeness because she was a female and invited her to sit with them. He introduced Stefan as his son and then told her his other son, Damon, was away at war.

Damon had been in the war as a Confederate soldier?

God, Stefan and Damon were . . . vampires in her time period. Her mind had wanted to connect the dots, but she hadn't let it before. But they were human at the moment. She wondered what had happened to make them turn.

Then another thing popped into her head that had nothing at all to do with herself and everything to do with the rest of the world. What if she did something that changed everything? She'd seen _Butterfly Effect_ and _Back to the Future_. She knew what messing with the space-time continuum could do, though she'd never believed in it until now.

"Are you alright?" Stefan's voice pushed away the fog in her head. "You've gone a little pale."

"She just needs a little air," Giuseppe said, not letting her answer for herself. "She's had quite a bad time of it. You were going to the stables later; why not take her with you?"

"Yes, Father," Stefan replied dutifully and smiled her way; Rebecca noticed he hadn't developed a brooding forehead yet. "I shall show you around the estate if you wish."

Rebecca smiled politely. "Thank you. That would be nice."

"Yes, Veritas is two hundred acres," Giuseppe started. "When I first settled here it was only one acre, but it has expanded."

"Veritas? That's Latin for trust, isn't it?" Rebecca asked, and was almost insulted when both men seemed shocked that she knew that. Then she remembered girls back then weren't supposed to be very learned. She would either be hated or loved for her knowledge, but she would _not_ pretend to be less than she was just to please these people.

"Yes," Giuseppe said. "People should always fight for the truth, don't you think?"

"I like to think I'm a truthful person," Rebecca said diplomatically.

Rebecca ate breakfast in silence. The servants from the kitchen brought in the cooked food and then, after that, a fruit salad. That was what Rebecca ate since the other stuff looked like a big pile of grease. The fruit, however, was actually fresh and was better than any fruit she'd had in a while.

After breakfast, though, Stefan did as he'd said he would and took her outside. They had to go past a beautiful garden and through a path that had oaks on either side. Giuseppe had warned them to stay close - apparently he hadn't told Stefan about his encounter the night before.

Once in the stable Rebecca was confronted with a big black horse. Stefan began brushing the animal down and asked if she'd like to try.

She declined. "I've - I've never really been around horses."

"Well, she's not dangerous. You can pet her if you want. Her skin is tough; you won't hurt her."

Rebecca took a timid step forward and slid her hand against the horse's nose. She'd seen it done in movies before. The animal leaned into her hand. The skin _was_ tough, but it was also smooth and it seemed the horse liked to be touched.

Rebecca noticed there were two stable boys who were tending to the other horses - there were four others - and then there was an overseer for the stable boys.

"Father said you don't know how you got here," Stefan said, breaking the silence.

"I don't. I woke up in the road."

Stefan looked at her with sympathy but didn't say anything. There was nothing _to_ say.

Rebecca wondered what the people back home were thinking about her. She'd changed so much in such a short time. She'd quit all her activities and now she was missing. Elena and Bonnie would probably be freaking out. Maybe Sheila would try to explain things to Bonnie. Caroline and everybody else would probably just think she had run away. It was no secret that she'd had enough of her dad's issues. Nobody would understand.

Except for Stefan. He would be able to remember these new things, right? And right now . . . Right now she was stuck. She'd seen enough witchcraft movies to know that spells couldn't just go away. Someone had to undo the magic or the spell had to run its course. It would end after the spell succeeded.

What had the spell been for anyway? Why was she here?

_Hear these words, hear the rhyme, heed the hope within my mind_.

Had she been hoping for anything? Peace of mind maybe . . . But she didn't need to go back in time to get that, right?

_Send me back to where I'll find what I wish in place and time_.

Okay . . . Obviously there was something here she was wishing for and needed to find. But that didn't make sense. What could she possibly want from this time period?

* * *

For the first week Rebecca kind of just walked around the grounds in a sense of unreality. She still couldn't believe she was there in 1864. At night she would cry in her room . . . Bed chamber, that was what she was supposed to call it. Her breathing would reach the hyperventilation level and she'd either pass out or cry herself to sleep.

She hardly ever saw Giuseppe, but she saw Stefan every day. They got along okay. He made sure she was comfortable and always had what she needed. They talked about books, most of which she'd read in school at some point in the recent past - or would it be future since she was technically in the past now?

Giuseppe had been nice enough to follow through on his promise of more clothes. There was a ball coming up soon and he'd asked her to be there. Sadly, she would have to get used to wearing a corset. Up to this point she hadn't been forced to wear them.

On the last day of the first week that she was there Damon came home. She'd heard him and his father arguing. Stefan assured her that that was pretty par for the course. Damon and his dad had never gotten along because Damon thought for himself. Well, Damon had told her that he hadn't gotten along with his dad.

Even through the anger, Giuseppe was perfectly polite when he introduced her to his other son. Damon had kissed her hand, much like he'd done the first time he'd met her in the future. She blushed this time, too, and had lowered her eyes before looking up at him again.

Rebecca made a mock curtsey and Damon grinned; his eyes danced with amusement.

"It's nice to meet you, Damon."

"Likewise, Miss Rebecca."

This time it was he who complimented _her_ eyes. He liked how they sparkled like emeralds when she smiled, which caused her to smile.

In the days that followed Giuseppe began to talk. People's animals were getting killed - throats torn open, bodies drained of blood; vampire. Apparently it was causing quite a stir in this town.

Rebecca was of the opinion that _if_ the vampires were feeding on animals then at least they weren't killing humans, and if they weren't killing humans, then it was none of her business. So she went about her life spending time with Damon when she could. He seemed to like her - his eyes lit up when she walked into a room she was in and vice versa. This Damon was just as playful as vampire Damon - maybe not as flirty, but she didn't mind.

Right now she was in the stable with both the Salvatore brothers and the stable boys. The stable boys were Tabitha's sons, and like Tabitha they had been surprised when she'd told him just to call her Rebecca. Apparently they thought she was their superior and therefore she would treat them as such.

Whatever. A person was a person to her. Skin color didn't matter. Or social status. Personality was what mattered.

The two stable boys were around fourteen and their names were Emmett and Jonas. Rebecca had watched them work a few times and had offered to help. The overseer, Joseph, had been shocked and had told her it was very unladylike to offer help to servants. She'd ignored him, for the most part.

The servants of the household called her Mizz Becca. They were almost reverential to her, which made her a little uncomfortable but she knew it was because she treated them as her equals and not as her inferiors.

Stefan and Damon were friendly with the help, but their father always expected perfection. Didn't he know that nobody was perfect in this world? Both Stefan and Damon were sweet and smart and the three of them got along well. She was comfortable around them both. Stefan was good to talk to and Damon made her feel free.

Stefan was the more serious of the two brothers. Damon was more . . . the wild type. Rebecca liked it. Her life was boring aside from the Slayer thing and she needed some excitement in it. He wasn't only wild, though. He was sweet too. He was gentle with her, always. He didn't know if it was because she was a girl or because he liked her, but he was never harsh or demanding. If she didn't know better she would've considered him soft spoken.

Damon, soft spoken? Wow . . . The one in the future was definitely not soft spoken. It was almost funny to think that about him.

"Come on, Miss Rebecca, up you get."

Damon put his hands on her waist and began lifting, but she grabbed his arms.

"Up?" she asked.

"On the horse," he said. He had stopped lifting, though, and was now waiting for her to give him the go ahead.

"Oh. No. No, no, no, no, no. I am not -" She looked into his blue eyes and stopped rambling. She just went with, "I don't think I'll feel secure if I have to ride sideways."

That was how girls rode when they were wearing a dress, right? Side-saddle? She was not getting on a horse if she wasn't able to hold on with her legs; she might fall.

"We will be on either side of you," Damon said. "Ready to catch you, should anything happen."

Damon still had his hands on her waist and she still had her hands on his arms. It was probably not appropriate but it seemed neither of them cared. Damon's eyes were so . . . sincere that she couldn't say no.

"Fine . . . But don't let me fall."

"Never," Damon said, smiling softly. His eyes had softened exponentially and she felt her insides doing the same.

He placed her up on the horse and she waited until she felt safe and until her nerves were calm before she let go of him.

"Okay, lead the way," she said, grabbing onto the reins, praying she wouldn't fall.

Damon was studying her apprehensively, so she smiled reassuringly. She was touched he cared so much about her safety and comfort.

Stefan began going on about wanting to go to the University of Virginia - wow, that was around back then? - and how he wanted to study to be a doctor. Giuseppe wanted him to wait until the war was over to go away to university. So . . . Sending Damon away to _fight_ in the war was okay, but Stefan going to college wasn't? What kind of logic was that?

Then they were talking about the new store that was opening in town, an apothecary. A woman named Pearl and her daughter Anna had recently moved to Mystic Falls and Pearl was going to run it. Rebecca hadn't been into town yet, but she was hoping to soon. Sadly, this was a time period where women were not allowed to do much on their own.

As the ride went on she began to slip around the saddle.

"I'm going to fall off," she said, grabbing onto Damon's shoulders after letting go of the reins. "Help me down?"

"Of course."

A she was helped down her body pressed against his and she noticed his breathing hitched and her breathing stopped altogether for a second. When her feet were on the ground Damon respectfully stepped away from her, but she could see his cheeks were flushed.

She smiled widely, openly because Damon Salvatore was blushing - _she_ was making him blush. It was adorable. Human Damon was so cute.

"You have the sweetest smile I have ever seen," he said softly, almost whispering. The honesty in his voice took her breath away - again. She was going to die of oxygen deprivation if she wasn't careful. Then Damon seemed to realize what he'd said. "I'm sorry. That was terribly inappropriate."

"Not at all," she assured him while feeling extremely happy with his compliment.

"Ahem," Stefan teased. "I am still standing here."

"Sorry, brother." Damon looked at Stefan but then smiled Rebecca's way. "I was so entranced I forgot you were there."

Rebecca bit her lip so she wouldn't end up grinning like an idiot. But now Damon wasn't the only one blushing; he still had charm, that much was obvious.

* * *

As Rebecca spent time with Damon she noticed that he was strong and fast for a human. The war, probably. She had no problem keeping up even when Stefan lagged behind. Damon seemed to be surprised that she could run as fast as she could. They played a sort of cat-and-mouse game. She would run and he would chase, because he was always the cat.

She noticed that Damon had lines around his beautiful eyes and she didn't know if they were stress lines of laugh lines; he did like having a good time.

It was still September and the weather was still warm. Damon had planned a picnic spread for them, assorted with all her favorite foods. Basically he'd packed anything he'd noticed that she had a taste for and most of it was sweet stuff.

Rebecca couldn't believe it, but she appeared to appeal to him on some level. She appealed to him even though she knew she must act strange compared to other girls who lived in this time period. Maybe he liked her because she was an oddity; that thought terrified her because what if he lost interest?

Damon had set everything up near the pond by their house. Though pond was a loose term; it was bigger than a pond and the water was pretty much clear. The afternoon sun beat down on them pleasantly as they talked and ate and then talked some more. He always said something to make her laugh, which would then make him laugh. He obviously liked making her happy.

They'd been spending a lot of time together, but never alone until now. This date - right word for the time period? - would decide whether or not she would continue falling for him.

_Damn_. She was falling for him. Hard. Bad, bad, bad. She didn't know how long she'd be in this time period and the last thing she wanted to do was hurt him by just disappearing. And according to what had happened when the spell _started_, that was exactly what would happen. She'd just disappear. But she couldn't just stay away from him, not now that she knew him. Not now that he was a part of her life.

When she looked up at him he was suppressing a smile.

"What?" she asked, flushing from the attention, which made him smirk. Human Damon liked that she blushed too.

"I'm trying to figure out who you are." He smiled. "You're hiding something. You act like you don't remember anything so you don't have to talk about it."

She swallowed against the nervousness bubbling up because she'd been found out.

"Don't worry. I wasn't going to tell anyone. I promise. It's just you're difficult to figure out."

"I'm a mystery, huh?"

"Definitely."

Rebecca sighed heavily. How the hell was she supposed to explain herself to him? She didn't want to lie to him because he'd be hurt and angry if he found out.

"I . . . went to sleep at a friend's house . . . And when I woke up I was in the middle of the road, and now here I am."

Her chest tightened and her throat began hurting with unshed tears and words she'd left unspoken for too long. But, hey, he'd asked so she was going to be honest - or as honest as she could realistically be.

"I don't have anyone anymore. I don't know how I got here and I can't go back."

She covered her face with her hands and tried to hide the tears as they fell. She still wasn't comfortable sharing her pain with others and she was surprised when Damon gently removed her hands from her face and wiped the wetness away himself.

That was when she noticed the difference between human Damon and vampire Damon. This Damon was sincerely concerned and sympathetic and wanted to make her feel better. He wasn't playing a game. His eyes were so . . . expressive. There was a whole range of emotions flickering through them and she had a hard time comprehending many of them. Vampire Damon's eyes weren't like that. They hardly showed anything he didn't want others to see.

But now she could tell that he was upset because he'd upset _her_. Then suddenly he'd lifted her up off the ground and placed her on his lap where she froze for about ten seconds before deciding she didn't mind crying in front of - or _on_ - this Damon. He was genuinely concerned for her and it was okay to open up to someone like that. Though she did feel kind of silly being held on his lap like a child. She was glad she was not wearing a poofy dress. She was just wearing a simple white one.

Damon didn't say anything while she cried, he just held her until she was done. She got his shirt all wet with tears, but he didn't seem to mind. She liked being close to him, she realized. It felt natural and right and good. Meant to be, almost.

It was ridiculous, of course, even entertaining that notion. They literally came from different worlds. In her time period he was old enough to be her great-great-great-great grandfather.

"Feeling better?" he asked softly, beginning to caress her hair.

"Mm. Thank you."

"Not a problem." His hand went from her hair to her cheek. "You're eyes aren't sparkling anymore." He sounded seriously aggrieved.

"No. But I'll be okay. It's just hard."

"You're not alone, Rebecca. Stefan and I are very fond of you."

"I sensed that." Stefan was more reserved, but Damon was very open with what he was feeling. That was odd since she knew him in the future, too, and saw how he was then.

Rebecca pressed her forehead against his and watched his eyes close peacefully. The only problem with that was she couldn't look into them anymore. Then she kissed him softly on the side of his mouth and his eyes snapped open; he obviously hadn't been expecting that.

"Was that inappropriate?" She blushed.

"If I say yes, would it stop you from doing it again?" he teased, but the question was a very real one.

"No. If people want to talk, let them. They don't really know me."

Besides it was just one little kiss, what could that hurt?

Damon smiled genuinely, like he'd really appreciated her answer. Then _he_ kissed _her_ properly on the mouth this time. She felt a thrill run through her. She'd been kissed before, certainly, but it had never felt right, like this. It was soft and sweet and tender, it made her want to cry again, only for an entirely different reason this time. No one had treated her with such care before; no one had made her feel so special.

She pressed her mouth more firmly against his, giving him permission to deepen the kiss. Her hands went to the back of his neck and caressed softly; his hands went to her waist. He didn't react oddly to her touch like vampire Damon did. _This_ Damon was probably used to the affection; she'd seen Stefan and Damon hug many times.

Not to mention he was in the war. Soldiers had to take their pleasure anywhere they could get it. Then she wondered if that was all this was to him. An amusement, a distraction. Was that what she was.

When she pulled away she noticed Damon was confused and slightly disappointed, but not angry.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just . . . What is this? What am I to you? You're older than me, so I know you're used to intimate relationships, but I don't want that." She flushed when she remembered they were in quite the intimate position already. "I mean, I don't want just that. So if that's all this is to you then -"

He interrupted her by kissing her again. She was caught between being annoyed and being appreciative. She'd seen movies where she'd felt like slapping the guy for cutting the girl off mid sentence, but in this instance she found she didn't really mind. Damon was still being soft and sweet and he wasn't mad she'd asked what she had.

"This is two people who like each other getting to know each other better. You are rather secretive; I hardly know anything about you."

Her head fell to his shoulder and she whispered, "Ask me a question. Ask me anything." She could hardly keep everything a secret after the way he'd just kissed her.

She would be as honest as possible.

"You said that . . . You didn't have anyone. Did something happen to them?" He was asking carefully; he obviously didn't want to upset her again.

"I don't know. But they're not here."

That was true enough. She didn't know and they weren't there. She was hoping everyone she cared about was safe and had moved on without her; she hoped they hadn't spent too much time worrying.

"Some of the people I knew I can definitely do without, but I miss most of them. Um . . . My mom died about eight months ago giving birth to my sister. I don't get along with my dad. We argue a lot."

She wondered how bad things were between Chelsea and her dad now that she was gone. She wondered if things had escalated at all. Of maybe they had gotten better now - maybe Robert would have no choice but to step up and be a father now.

"My dad is an alcoholic and he refuses to take care of Chelsea. He blamed her for our mother dying even though there was no way it could have been prevented. My aunt is there now, helping. Um . . . I have friends who I consider to be family, siblings of a sort."

"Tell me about them," Damon said, sounding genuinely interested.

"Okay. There's Elena. She's sweet - a little nosy, but . . . she cares about others more than she cares about herself. There's Bonnie, she's a good friend; she's like a sister to me. Uh . . . There's Caroline; I tolerate her for the other two. Matt is like the older brother I never had; he looks out for us girls. Then there's Jeremy - that's Elena's brother. He's a little troubled. He and Elena lost their parents recently. He's fifteen, she's seventeen."

Damon listened with interest and then asked her to tell him about herself.

"Okay, um . . . Number one: I hate talking about myself."

She laughed a little and he smiled at her admittance.

"Do it anyway," he prompted softly.

She bit her lip nervously. Her life, before the whole Slayer thing, had been boring and redundant. What was she supposed to say?

"Okay, then. But after, you have to tell me about you too, okay?"

"Sounds fair."

She looked into his eyes to make sure he was being honest and when she was satisfied that he was being she began speaking.

"My life was based on routine. It was safe, never changing. I liked it that way for a while. Then I realized I wasn't exactly _living_ life; I was just existing. But . . . I was too scared to change it. I knew what people expected of me, what I was supposed to do. So I did it. I don't want to be that person, but I'm scared of disappointing people. There's a whole other side of me that my friends don't know about."

She realized that, as she was speaking, everything she said was the truth. It terrified her, being this honest and open with someone.

"More recently, as me and my father started fighting, I spent less and less time at home. I kept finding things to keep me busy, away from him. It was so hard to be happy at home. I'm actually glad I'm not there at the moment."

She ran her fingernails across the back of his neck because she was happy she was with him. She smiled when she felt him shiver slightly. She understood the feeling.

"Um . . . I used to write," she admitted. "Songs and poems mostly, but I haven't had much time to do it lately. Or much inspiration."

"A female writer? Most people look down on those." Damon was teasing; she could tell because of the half smile on his face.

"I don't care," Rebecca said honestly. In her time period they were pretty popular. "I like it. It's one of the things I sincerely enjoy in life. Um . . . Music. I like music. I used to sing, but not so much anymore. People say I'm good, I don't know."

She'd been the female soloist in her junior high choir; she'd stopped when she'd reached the ninth grade. She'd also played the piano. She was just a creative person. She loved everything that involved expressing yourself through creativity. That was why she'd gotten along with Jeremy so well, she thought, because he was an artist too.

"Will you sing something for me one day?" Damon asked, his eyes and voice tempting her.

She flushed slightly and looked away so she wouldn't give in right away. "Maybe." She hadn't sang or played in front of anybody in a long time.

"Yes," he said, "was supposed to be your answer."

"Well, I said maybe. It depends."

What could she sing here, in this time period? He wouldn't know the song and it wouldn't fit with anything 1864 had to offer. But she didn't fit in 1864 either; she always had to remind herself of things she wasn't supposed to be doing.

"Your turn," she said. "Things about you."

She decided it was time to move off his lap so she did and then curled against his side. He wrapped his arm over her shoulder comfortably. Apparently, now that the awkward first kiss was over - or the _not_ so awkward first kiss was over - he was okay with being affectionate.

"May as well start at the beginning, yes?" He took a deep breath and Rebecca nodded. "Stefan's and my mom died when we were young. Stefan doesn't remember her much, but I do. She was . . . She deserved someone better than Father." He said the word as if it offended him. "Mother was sunny and always laughing, she was always happy. It flummoxed father endlessly."

Flummoxed? Even though the topic of conversation was less than funny, Rebecca had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at that word coming out of Damon's mouth.

"I will admit I was a handful when I was a child."

"You're a handful now," Rebecca teased and Damon grinned unabashedly. "Go on."

"Mother didn't care. Grass stains, muddy clothes. It drove Father crazy, but that was half the fun."

They both laughed at that. Enjoying driving people insane - she could totally see that. It was a little petty, but she could still see it.

"Classic naughty boy, huh?" she teased, knocking him in the chest with the back of her hand. Then more seriously, "I'm really sorry about your mom. You loved her, I can tell, and I know how hard it is to lose someone you love."

"Hm. Father became worse after she passed away. He wouldn't even let us grieve properly. He removed most of Mother's things a few days after she died, stored them in the attic. He didn't even leave her picture out to honor her memory."

She pictured all that happening in her head. She knew grief could make people do weird and sometimes awful things.

"Sometimes," Rebecca began, "sometimes an awful person is _less_ awful when they're with the one they love. When they lose that person it's like they lose their sense of self. They say and do things they normally wouldn't. Does . . . that make sense?"

"Yes."

Damon looked at her and she noticed he was looking at her with something very close to admiration, so she ducked her head briefly.

"You remind me of her. She forgave everyone's faults even though some people don't deserve it."

"Right. Some people . . . You have to forgive them because they need it, not because they deserve it." She bit her lip, trying to suppressing the sympathy she had for him; he probably didn't want her pity. "That was when you started watching out for Stefan, isn't it?"

No, it wasn't obvious like Rebecca's taking care of Chelsea, but it was a completely different situation with Damon. Stefan was not a baby, he didn't need taking care of; he just needed looking after.

"Someone had to; Father wasn't going to. Father sneered whenever one of us shed a tear over Mother; he thought it was weak."

"Crying over someone you love is not weak," she exclaimed, horrified at the thoughts that Giuseppe must've driven into his sons' heads. "Horrid, bigoted man."

"Time went by. I started thinking for myself. Father hated it. I'm the bad son, always disobeying."

"Doing what you think is right and disobeying are two very different things. Besides, sometimes what you want and what other people think is best . . . Well, I know it can cause hard feelings between people, but you should never do anything you don't want to do."

She realized she should follow her own advice, but she kind of missed carefree Damon at the moment.

Damon smiled, but then his eyes took on a dark look. "I agree with that. Last time I listened to Father . . . was when he wanted me to join the war. It's . . . I'm not going back."

Rebecca didn't say anything to that. She just moved closer to him, whatever that was worth. She couldn't imagine the horrors he'd witnessed on the field. She knew that death changed people, seeing death did even more damage.

"I can't fight for something I don't believe in."

"So don't," she said simply. "It's your decision and it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks. Do what you want."

She vaguely wondered, not for the first time, if she was changing anything too drastically. She knew things wouldn't stay the same, not completely. Things had been set on a different path just by her _being _there. She just wondered if the words she was saying were going to do more harm than good.

"Father is planning an end of summer dinner and dance," Damon began, obviously changing the subject. "Will you allow me to escort you?"

"I would be honored to go with you, Damon," she said, accepting the subject change gracefully. She grabbed onto his hand, which he allowed her to keep hold of. "Um . . . I don't know how to dance, though." Not the dances that existed in 1864 anyway.

"Don't worry. I'll teach you. It's all in the leading."

* * *

On the way back to the house Damon and Rebecca stopped by the stable because they'd noticed Stefan leading his horse into the building. Rebecca heard a weird whooshing sound, and turned to look at the noise.

Emmett, one of the stable boys, was about to be whipped. What had he done to deserve such punishment? Emmett was maybe fourteen, he was a child. Nobody should mistreat a child, no matter the reason.

Rebecca rushed forward and as the whip flashed toward the boy she let the leather strip slash across her own arm where it wrapped around a few times and she yanked it away from the overseer of the stable. Pain shot up her arm, but she ignored it for the most part.

"How dare you interfere?" Joseph said.

"How dare you mistreat a child?" She had half a mind to turn the whip on him, just to see how he liked it.

The man's eyes flashed in anger and he drew his hand back to strike her, but Damon interfered this time. He'd grabbed the man's arm before he could even make the blow land.

"Don't you lay a hand on her, Joseph. And leave the stable boys alone."

"He wasn't doing his job."

Damon's usually soft blue eyes were now hard and angry and they had a cold, electric look to them. His eyes changed minutely with his emotions, Rebecca realized. That was good to know.

"He will have a harder time doing his job with a sore back, will he not?" The question was rhetorical. "You may leave."

Damon had been too shocked to do anything about Rebecca's interference before. He had never been around a woman who had cared enough to interfere with a servant's punishment. But when Joseph had been about to strike Rebecca something in him had snapped. Rebecca was a sweet person; she didn't deserve to be mistreated. Ever. It had been brave of her to step in to protect someone beneath her status. It had stunned him when she hadn't flinched when Joseph had raised his hand to her. Either Rebecca hadn't been scared on she was used to being mistreated. Hopefully it wasn't the latter.

Damon had an irrational anger at the thought of anyone hurting Rebecca. He'd felt protective of her from the moment he'd met her, he was very attached to her.

Joseph had left and now Rebecca was comforting Emmett even though her arm was bleeding from taking a lashing from the whip. He went to her and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Come on. We'll get you both inside. We'll take care of you."

Damon helped Rebecca; Stefan helped Emmett. Emmett had already been hit twice before Rebecca had stepped in. They helped them to the parlor of the house. Damon knew he needed to take care of Rebecca's wound or it might get infected.

When he got her by herself he began cleaning her cuts with alcohol. He noticed she bit her lip to keep from crying out from the sting.

"I'm sorry," he said. "You shouldn't have done that. You saw Joseph, what he was going to do to you, what he _did_ do to you. It would've been worse had I not been there. He would've hurt you."

Rebecca lowered her head briefly, but he tilted her chin back up.

"I'm not angry with you. Just be careful from now on. And if Joseph tries anything, come to me. Promise me."

"Okay," she said softly. "As long as you're not angry."

"I'm not. I just don't want anything to happen to you."

She smiled and said, "I know. But nothing's going to happen to me, Damon. I can . . . handle myself if Joseph tries anything."

His eyes closed as she brought her hand to his face and caressed gently with her fingers. It felt right, him being comforted by her. Her touch was soothing yet thrilling at the same time. She had a strange yet exciting affect on him.

He'd never met a woman quite like Rebecca before. She wasn't a simpering moron like a lot of the women he'd met. She was knowledgeable and obviously brave. She wasn't only interested in finding a husband. There was a long list of reasons why he was interested in Rebecca, but the fact that she was different was one of the main ones.

* * *

Okay, so quick update again! LOL These were little patches of her life in the 1800s LOL. It doesn't show Damon a lot when he's human in the show but from people that knew him then . . . I've heard he was kind, so that was how I made him. I used bits and pieces of information from the Stefan's Diaries series. Anyway, I hope you liked it. And I hope the language was 'proper' enough. LOL

Let me know what you think? Thanks. :)


	6. Chapter 5 CP

Okay, this is something I wrote because one of my reviewers was wondering what was going on in the present while Rebecca was back in time.

Enjoy!

Chapter Five  
Companion piece

_Mystic Falls, 2009_

_Uh-oh_.

Damon shot up out of bed. Something was wrong.

Maybe it had been a dream but it had been so . . . real. And he hadn't had dreams in a long time, not ones like this, not ones that didn't involve Katherine Pierce. And Rebecca Stone definitely hadn't had the starring role.

But he'd been human and he'd been attracted to her the minute he'd seen her. Her eyes, her smile - he'd fallen in love with her smile.

He'd been introduced to her the day he'd come back while he was on leave from the war. He'd been arguing with Father - of course - when Stefan had brought her in, probably as a way to relieve the tension. Damon knew Stefan hadn't liked it when he and their father used to fight. Damon had felt bad about causing his brother stress back then, he didn't care now.

But that had been the first time he'd seen Rebecca. She'd curtsied like a good little lady but it had been in a teasing way and it had amused him.

She had arrived at the most inopportune moment. People were just starting to complain about animal attacks, when really it was vampires. Of course, Damon hadn't known it right then, so he'd thought the town's people were just superstitious fools.

Rebecca hadn't seemed bothered by it, so maybe she hadn't known it was vampires. She'd seemed content just to spend time with him and Stefan. Maybe she didn't _want_ to know it was vampires. Maybe she was ignoring the problem.

_Ugh, I need a drink_, he thought. _I'm gonna get a drink_.

He got out of bed, got dressed and went downstairs and grabbed a bottle of his best bourbon and started chugging. This Rebecca chick was going to mess everything up. Because, despite what he'd told himself when he'd woken up, it wasn't a dream. It was real; somehow Rebecca had gone back to 1864 and his human self liked her.

His human self had liked how she'd carried herself, how she'd been nice to the people she didn't have to be nice to. The servants had loved her, probably would've died for her had they been given the chance.

He remembered how his body had stirred the first time he'd had her in his arms when he'd helped her off his horse. He'd been totally attracted to her by that time. But that was all it had been just then: Attraction. She'd had too many secrets for him to let himself feel much more than that.

* * *

"Damon!" It was Stefan, and he sounded disturbed. "When are we gonna talk about it?"

"About what?"

"You know what. Rebecca. She's not here . . ." Stefan said. "I have different memories, so I know you do to."

"Whatever do you mean?"

Stefan scoffed. "Drop the act. We both spent time with her. You were there too. In fact, you forgot I was there, remember. Your words."

Damon didn't answer because, well, Stefan was telling the truth.

"Well, what are we going to do about it?" Stefan asked. "She doesn't belong there. She could die."

"Everybody dies," Damon said coldly. "Besides, what are we _supposed_ to do? I hardly think Bonnie Bennett could bring her back and if Sheila could've done it, she would've already."

"What am I supposed to tell Elena? She's freaking out and I can't even tell her that Rebecca's okay."

"You're problem, not mine. You're the one who keeps lying to her and yourself about what you are, Mr. I-Like-Torturing-Furry-Animals-So-I-Don't-Hurt-People."

Stefan glared and Damon smirked. "Why am I surprised by how helpful you're not?"

"Because you never learn."

Damon walked away and out of the house. He was regretful that he couldn't bring his alcohol with him.

* * *

Jeeze, he'd taken her on a picnic and . . . hadn't even tried to seduce her. He'd respected her and treated her like a woman should be treated and all that other stuff he'd forgotten since he'd become a vampire. They had just talked and told each other about themselves.

She'd said she'd fallen asleep at a friend's house and seeing as to how she'd ended up back in time, he was going to assume that friend was a witch. Bonnie wasn't experienced enough, so that left Sheila.

Why he was at said witch's house was beyond him. Maybe he could chalk it up to curiosity. He wanted to know what spell had been cast and how long it would hold. Yeah, that was it.

He remembered how bad he'd felt when he'd made Rebecca cry - unwittingly, of course; when he'd been human he had never made a woman cry on purpose because, like most men, tears made him want to run the other way. But he hadn't been able to leave Rebecca alone because she was crying because she _felt_ alone. He'd wanted to prove she wasn't.

When she'd kissed him it had shocked him. Women didn't just do things like that back then, not the respectable ones anyway. And Rebecca was respectable, and it had been a thank you for letting her cry and not saying anything about it. But she hadn't said no when he'd kissed her back.

Damon tried to forget how _nice_ it had been. There was an innocence to Rebecca and even his human self had felt it. But they had fit together, his wildness with her serenity. In that moment, Damon had felt like he'd found the place he'd belonged, and vampire Damon could remember it. He didn't want to remember it, but he did.

So yes, Rebecca was going to ruin everything. Damon had waited 145 to get Katherine back; he was not going to change his plans because of one human girl. She was an extraordinary human girl, but she was still just human. Well . . . Maybe slightly more than human since she was a Slayer, but . . . still. The point was still the same.

Rebecca was not Katherine.

Katherine or not, Damon had still liked how Rebecca had listened and not judged. But he had been human then; there was no way she wouldn't judge him now, not after everything he'd done all in the name of love. He'd shut his humanity out so he could survive and get to the point where he could bring Katherine back. He wouldn't have survived this long if he had felt as much as he had when he'd been human.

Finally, he knocked on Sheila Bennett's door. He did not expect to be invited in and that wasn't what he wanted anyway. He just wanted to know when the spell was going to be broken and how long Rebecca would be gone. He needed at least an estimate so he would know how much Rebecca could possibly mess up.

If Rebecca was still in the past when Katherine came into Damon's life . . . it was very possible Damon wouldn't notice Katherine at all. It was true Damon could go from one woman to the next, no problem, _but_ if he was spoken for he wouldn't stray. He was very loyal. If Rebecca was there and made her feelings for him clear, which she had . . . Damon would not hurt her that way.

"Mr. Salvatore."

The woman who opened the door was thin in the extreme and . . . somehow knew who he was even though she'd never met him. Whatever, he had no time for that mystery. He had another one to deal with.

"You know why I'm here, I take it."

"Rebecca Stone?" she asked innocently, brown eyes twinkling.

"Yes," he seethed. "You bring her back now."

"I can't. I didn't cast the spell. She did, accidentally. The spell can't be broken until she gets what she wants."

"Well, what is it that she wants?"

"Since she didn't mean to cast the spell, she probably doesn't even know. She'll know when she finds it."

_So it's not me_? Damon thought moodily realizing it was completely irrational since he didn't want her anyway. But she was with Damon in that time period, so he thought he was justified in thinking that.

"Did you know where she would be sent when she cast the spell?"

"Nope, she could've ended up at Woodstock for all I knew."

"Hm." Damon chuckled. "Still probably would've met me."

"A less pleasant you," Sheila said, smirking. "You can leave now."

The witch slammed the door in his face.

"Well, that was rude," Damon muttered, but walked away nonetheless.

* * *

Damon was screwed. It had been a week since he'd started remembering things about the past-that-shouldn't-have-been, which meant it had been about two weeks since Rebecca had been gone. The sheriff had put up flyers around town because she was a missing person. Elena and Bonnie and even Caroline had helped. He knew Stefan had tried comforting Elena in the only way he knew how, by lying to her. Rebecca would be okay, maybe she'd come back and everything would be fine. Okay, so maybe that wasn't a complete lie, but it was omitting the truth, so it was technically still a lie.

Damon had taken to secretly going to Rebecca's house at night. He couldn't go in, but he wanted to make sure Chelsea was okay. It was stupid and he knew he shouldn't because the girl was not his responsibility, but the part of him that was remembering Rebecca in a way he shouldn't knew how much Rebecca loved her sister. If Rebecca wasn't here to take care of her . . . Well . . . Yeah.

As he'd thought, he was screwed. Robert was still not being a dad, but Chelsea did have Tina. But the baby was always crying. He'd heard she was teething, so that was probably why. Painful, painful, painful. They should give her something to chew on; it would make her feel better. Or didn't they have medicine to make her gums numb or something? He was sure he'd heard of that.

Or Chelsea might just be missing her sister/surrogate mother.

Damon wasn't the only one who needed her to come back home.

* * *

Okay, as you can see, Damon's thoughts are askewed. He's not sure _what_ to think of Rebecca going back in time, but he knows she's going to mess everything up because he's already doing OOC things. Or he thinks they're out of character. LOL. Anyway, I know this is short, but this was just an overview of what Damon's feeling - gasp - and thinking.

Let me know what you think? Really, I wasn't sure if this was how he'd react or not, but I was sure he wouldn't take it sitting down.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

_Mystic Falls, 1864_

Damon Salvatore was . . . smitten with Rebecca Stone. Enamored, completely in love with Rebecca. Well, maybe not _in love_, but he was on his way. He never felt more himself than when she was with him. She didn't point out his faults - he knew he had some, but nobody was perfect - she just listened and accepted him as he was. She didn't want him to change or be better, though she made him want to be better for her.

When they were together it felt like nothing else mattered. Not his bigoted father, not his little brother, nothing. She made him feel cherished and secure; a feat no other person had been able to do. More than that, she took care of him without making him feel weak.

At the moment, they were out in the garden and he was attempting to teach her to dance. She was very graceful for someone who claimed not to know how to dance. She was also a quick learner.

He liked the feel of her in his arms; it left him feeling light and warm and peaceful. He twirled her around and she giggled in delight as he brought her back to catch her in his arms. Technically that wasn't part of the dance, but it was fun and it made her laugh. His breath caught as she bit her lip and looked up at him with adoration. No one had looked at him with that expression before.

She was undeniably beautiful in a natural goddess way. Though, technically, if she were a goddess then she wasn't natural at all. The point was since he'd met her, he couldn't think of anyone else. Rebecca filled up his head space.

Sometimes they took strolls by the pond or through the gardens or through the maze on the grounds.

He bent to kiss her on the cheek chastely - he usually wasn't one to go for the innocent type because he wasn't used to taking things slow, but there was just something about her that drew him in - but she tilted her head just-so so their lips brushed. Then she pulled away, teasing him and blushing at the same time.

"I don't think that was part of the lesson," she said shyly. A small smile was playing across her lips.

"I believe it _was_, Miss Rebecca," he replied, grinning. "Shall we continue?"

Her hair began falling into her face, which just wasn't acceptable, so he pushed her hair back revealing her angel face and he kissed her again; this time she didn't pull away.

"You are quite the woman, aren't you?" he said. More like breathed against her lips and felt as she smiled. "All the girls will be jealous of you at the dinner, and the men will absolutely loathe me for having you all to myself."

Damon thought that arrangement was quite alright. Neither of them cared what the townspeople thought. But mostly he'd just said what he'd said so the flush wouldn't leave her cheeks. Rebecca's cheeks were almost perpetually rosy; it just made her lovelier.

* * *

As Rebecca and Damon walked back to the house, hand in hand, Rebecca felt quite good about herself. Damon saw her as a woman, though until she'd met him she'd never considered herself as such. Until he'd made her _feel_ like a woman she'd still thought of herself as a young girl.

As they stepped inside, they heard Stefan and Giuseppe talking about someone named Katherine Pierce. Apparently she'd recently lost her parents and was coming to live there at Veritas. Rebecca knew it was more because Giuseppe wanted to make a good impression on the townspeople rather than because he was generous at all. He'd only taken Rebecca in because she'd saved his life and could probably be useful.

The girl, Katherine, would be arriving any day now. They would have a new house guest. She knew from what Giuseppe said that this Katherine's parents had died in a fire in Atlanta. Rebecca was assuming that the Salvatore's knew her family; why else would Giuseppe agree to have a girl from Atlanta come all the way to Virginia.

"Ah, you two are back," Giuseppe said, sounding almost delighted by their arrival.

Rebecca should've known something was up then, because Giuseppe was never delighted to see Damon.

"I see you two have been spending much time together. Perhaps you can tame my wild son, yes?"

Rebecca blushed but spoke anyway. "I would never claim to be able to do that nor would I ever wish to."

Wow. If she wasn't careful, she'd start talking like the people from this time period.

She didn't even blink when Giuseppe didn't seem to appreciate the honesty of her answer. She didn't care. She knew who she cared about and who she didn't. Giuseppe was too harsh on his sons for her to feel much for him. Any positive feelings she had for him stopped growing after gratitude for taking her in. She would've been lost in this world without him.

"Come, you two. Sit," he ordered.

It was only natural for Rebecca to want to rebel but she could tell by the gravity in his words that it was important, so she listened.

"There have been attacks in town. Animals with gashes in their necks. The work of demons."

"Stray dog, maybe," Damon suggested harshly. "Not demons."

"The attacks are getting closer to Veritas," Giuseppe went on as if Damon hadn't spoken. "If they get much closer, we'll have to fight back. Rebecca can teach us how. She's fought a demon herself."

Both Stefan and Damon turned sharply toward her and she suddenly found the table interesting. Inside she was fuming. How dare Giuseppe corner her like this? He was an awful, awful man.

"Rebecca?" Damon's sweet voice called out to her and she looked up. "What is he going on about?"

"Nothing. Leave it alone."

"It was not nothing," Giuseppe said, standing up. "Tell the truth!"

Rebecca stood up too. "You tell the truth, Mr. Salvatore. I don't like talking about such things."

It was true; she didn't want to talk about it. She didn't like that she'd killed someone, even if that someone had already been dead - or undead, whatever.

Giuseppe actually looked contrite at what she'd said. Suddenly he'd remembered she was a woman, maybe?

"Of course, Miss Stone. Shall we sit back down and speak rationally?"

"We shall." But she didn't want to. The only reason she didn't leave the room right that instant was because she didn't want him to say anything about her without her knowing about it. She needed to know how much damage control she'd have to do after he was done.

Giuseppe went on to explain how he'd found her and how she'd known exactly how to take care of the demon that had attacked them. All the while Damon and Stefan were quiet, taking everything in. She was terrified of what they would think of her now. A woman who knew how to fight, and the fact that she'd kept this from Damon. But really . . . What should she have said? Until now it seemed Damon hadn't given much thought to things that went bump in the night. He wouldn't have believed her, anyway; maybe he still wouldn't.

When Giuseppe was done Rebecca pretty much stomped from the room. She hadn't wanted Damon or Stefan to find out about her, not from Giuseppe.

Damon had followed her and was now grabbing her to turn her around. "Rebecca? You killed someone?"

She wouldn't look at him. Since the night she'd arrived in 1864 she'd tried to repress the fact that, yes, she _had_ killed someone.

"He would've killed us, I didn't have a choice," she whispered.

"And you are convinced he was a demon?" She still wasn't looking at him so he _made_ her look at him. Her face was now in his hands and she was looking directly into his earnest blue eyes. "Father has filled your head with children's stories."

"No, that night wasn't the first time I'd seen a vampire." She grabbed onto his arms and squeezed gently. "The demons Giuseppe was talking about are called vampires. Come with me, Damon, and I'll explain."

She was giving him a choice. He could back away from this craziness now - she was completely aware that that was what it sounded like - or he could give her a chance.

"I'll come with you," he decided.

She led him up to her bed chamber; he surprised her by stopping at the door.

"The servants will talk," he said softly, obviously worried about her reputation. "They may start to think poorly of you."

"Let them." She shrugged indifferently. This was more important than what people thought of her. "Tabitha will know better."

She and Tabitha had become sort of friends, though the colored woman was still shocked when she treated her like an equal.

Rebecca pulled him gently inside the room and she shut the door. They sat on her bed, a few inches apart and she wondered where she should start. Then it hit her.

"I'm not a killer, Damon," she blurted out. "I wouldn't have done anything to the vampire that attacked us if he hadn't attacked first."

She needed him to know that. She wasn't just a cold-blooded killer; she didn't think she had it in her. Yet.

"The man that attacked us, his eyes were red and he had very sharp fangs. He was drinking from your father's companion. He was killed right in front of me. That's why I killed the vampire."

She grabbed his hand and was grateful when he didn't flinch away.

"Until about a month ago, I didn't know vampires existed either. Then someone came to me and told me that I'm the one who can stop them. I'm a - the - vampire slayer. I didn't want it. I didn't ask for it. It just happened. Your father is planning on using me as a weapon, I'm pretty sure."

She then looked at him sharply. "Damon, you can't tell anyone about me, okay? Word cannot get around about me because if the wrong person hears it, I could be hunted down and killed."

"I won't tell," he said automatically and she knew he'd rather die than be the one to cause her harm. She couldn't tell, however, whether he was saying it to patronize her or because he actually believed her.

"Damon, I would've told you, I just didn't know how. Normal people don't want to hear about vampires. Not in a serious conversation anyway."

"The animal attacks?" he asked.

"Vampires have to feed, have to drink blood to survive. That much I know is true. But if they're not killing people then it's none of my business. I would never hurt an innocent person. Not all vampires are evil. They have a choice."

Granted, they didn't have a _good_ choice, but they had a choice.

"Some . . . Some don't kill even when they feed from humans. I mean, they don't have to. That's another choice."

Damon closed his eyes and leaned back on the bed. He groaned a little. "I'm trying to follow along and I'm trying to believe you, Rebecca, but . . ."

"It's a lot to take in, I know. But you're not alone. And we never have to talk about this again if you don't want to. I just . . . You needed to know who I am and what I'm supposed to do."

When Damon didn't answer right away she became terrified. What was he thinking? Was he okay? Did he just need time or was his opinion of her forever altered?

"Damon? I'm still me. I'm still Rebecca, you just know more about me now." She touched his arm gently. "Are you wishing you didn't?"

His eyes snapped open and they flashed angrily. "It doesn't change how I feel. Nothing will change that. I just don't know how you expect me to respond."

"I don't care how you respond, just please don't shut me out. You are the closest friend I have here. I wouldn't know what to do without you."

Damon seemed to take that at face value because she was naturally an honest person; this Damon was so very trusting. She laid there beside him for a few minutes, just long enough to feel him relax, long enough for her to reassure herself that he wasn't going anywhere. Then he kissed her goodnight on the cheek and left her bedroom to go to his own. Apparently he didn't want to risk her getting a bad reputation.

* * *

Katherine Pierce showed up two days later. Rebecca almost had a stroke because Katherine looked exactly like Elena or . . . Elena looked exactly like Katherine since Katherine was older. Same olive skin, same brown hair - though Katherine wore hers in ringlets and Elena usually had hers straight. Everything was the same except for the eyes. Both Elena and Katherine had chocolate brown eyes, but Elena's were soft and compassionate; Katherine's were cold and distant.

Rebecca remembered vampire Damon looking at Elena strangely the day she'd introduced them; she understood the look now.

Katherine had shown up in a carriage with her handmaid and a coachman. Katherine's dark curls reached halfway down her back. She wore one of those big frou-frou dresses that Rebecca hated wearing herself.

The first time Rebecca saw Katherine she couldn't get over the fact that she was meeting an Elena look-alike. She also knew that Katherine was a vampire. She got the same feeling around Katherine that she'd gotten around Stefan and Damon in her time period. She'd only recently made the connection.

Katherine was also wearing a familiar blue stone around her neck. Lapis Lazuli, Damon had called it. It protected him like it was protecting her. From the sun; she could walk around in the daylight without burning. It wasn't hard for Rebecca to come to that conclusion. Vampires couldn't walk around during the day and since Damon said the stone protected him . . . There was only one thing vampires needed to be protected from during the day; the sun.

She'd introduced herself willingly, Rebecca had. Katherine seemed amiable enough.

"I'm sorry about your family," Rebecca said sincerely.

Katherine's eyes grew dark and gloomy. "Thank you."

Elena had lost her parents too. Was she destined to relive Katherine's life? Or un-life, as it would be called. Was Elena destined to become a vampire? Was that why Stefan and Damon were in Mystic Falls?

Rebecca didn't have much time to speculate now; she couldn't do anything about Elena while she was here.

Katherine or no Katherine, Rebecca had been at Veritas for a month, which meant that she'd been away from home for a month. She missed her friends. She even missed Caroline's incessant blathering. But she was happy with Damon. When she was with him she forgot about all her problems. She'd gladly stay here if she could, just to be with him.

"I wasn't aware Mr. Salvatore had a daughter," Katherine said, breaking into her thoughts.

"Oh, no. He took me in as well. I don't have family here."

Giuseppe gave Katherine a room close to Rebecca's; Katherine's handmaid was put with the rest of the servants and again Rebecca was struck by the injustice of it all. All over skin color. The color of one's skin should have nothing to do with how one is treated.

* * *

The next day Rebecca was walking the path of Veritas with Stefan and Damon. She didn't ignore Stefan just because she was with - or sort of with - Damon. There was a nice breeze going even though it was still warm. She felt uneasy, which she wasn't used to when she was with Damon. She couldn't explain the negative feelings she was having now; it was just a . . . wrong feeling.

Katherine was in the garden, not too many feet away and she looked a little lonely. It didn't surprise Rebecca; the girl had lost her family - maybe not recently since she was a vampire - so it was to be expected.

Rebecca led the two brothers to where Katherine was sitting on a stone bench.

"Would you like to join us? We can give you a tour of the grounds."

"I would very much enjoy walking with you three for a bit," Katherine said.

Rebecca knew she didn't really know Katherine, but she had all this involuntary sympathy for her because she looked like Elena. During their walk Rebecca noticed that Katherine kept brushing her hand against Stefan's. Stefan's hand twitched every time and Katherine would smile playfully. She was teasing him.

A sudden thought struck Rebecca. Was Stefan getting close to Elena because he'd been close to Katherine? Was Stefan really on the rebound and liked Elena only because she looked like Katherine?

"Honoria Fell is coming tomorrow to discuss dresses with you and Katherine. Father wants to purchase you two something for the end of summer gala," Damon said. "She should be here at midday."

"What should I tell her? About the dress?"

"You'll be beautiful no matter what you wear," Damon said, grabbing her hand. "Let us give these two some privacy."

She squeezed his hand gently and smiled, forgetting the Stefan/Elena/Katherine problem for the moment.

"Are you sure you don't just want _us_ to have privacy?" Rebecca teased.

Damon smiled softly and flushed. "That, too, Miss Rebecca."

"Come on," Rebecca said. She led him away from Stefan and Katherine. The two didn't seem to mind.

"I'm telling Father tomorrow that I'm not going back to the war. It's not my place."

"Oh. You'll do great. You just say exactly what you think and block out whatever he says. Ignore his negative opinion of you. It doesn't matter."

"Not needing encouragement right now. But thank you."

"Okay, um . . . But you're not staying just because of me, right? I mean, that's not what you're basing your decision on."

Damon sighed and stopped walking. "You _are_ a big part of it, Rebecca. But no. And even if it was, it is my decision to make."

"Yes, it is." She stood on her tiptoes and caressed his lips with hers. She smiled. "Hey, do you know how to swim?"

His brows furrowed. "Yes . . ." he said hesitantly.

"Then follow me."

She led him to the pond on the grounds and when they reached it she began undoing the strings in the front of her dress. She had a dark colored slip under it so she wasn't worried.

* * *

Rebecca was pulling her dress off right in front of Damon. And he was frozen. He was half convinced he was dreaming. She was beautiful. The slip of her dress covered everything that needed to be covered, but it hugged her curves tightly. She looked amazing.

"Miss Rebecca . . . You are acting quite indecently."

He was teasing her to cover up the uncomfortable-ness he was suddenly feeling. He wasn't used to feeling uncomfortable around women, but Rebecca could make him feel . . . less confident. Actually, that wasn't quite correct. He was still confident, but he worried more about what she thought than he cared to admit. He was always worried that he was going to say or do something wrong and she'd leave. Even though she'd proven more than once that she liked him as he was. He didn't need to change for her.

Rebecca waded into the water and looked at him. "Aren't you coming in?" She bit her lip and smiled shyly. "I can turn around if you want me to while you undress."

He began taking his shoes off and then his shirt. She didn't have to turn around. He watched her face for any sign of hesitation, but there wasn't any. He left his trousers on. Then he took an embarrassingly shaky breath and stepped into the water.

Rebecca was already waist deep and when he reached her, they went in deeper. Then she splashed him, relieving some of the tension he'd been feeling.

""Oh, I'm gonna get you," he teased, retaliating.

They spent at least half-an-hour just having a water fight. He went easy on her at first until he realized that being a Slayer - if that was actually what she was - meant she was stronger and faster than other women he'd met. He could be a little wilder with her without worrying about hurting her. She wasn't a delicate little flower even if he did sometimes treat her like one.

* * *

The next day Giuseppe had invited Honoria Fell - relation to Logan Fell, local newscaster in Rebecca's time - over to Veritas, like Damon had warned her he had. Giuseppe wanted others to see how well his two lady guests were being taken care of.

"No son of mine will ever disobey me! You need to go back and take your place in the world."

"My _place_ is here."

Giuseppe and Damon were arguing again; Damon was telling his father he wasn't going to fight in a war he didn't believe in. Needless to say, Giuseppe hadn't taken too kindly to that.

"You're thinking with your heart and not your head. You are becoming too attached to Miss Stone."

"Miss Stone is right here, Mr. Salvatore," she said, irritated by the fact that Giuseppe apparently thought that she was deaf because she was female. "And her hearing is as good as ever, just so you know."

Rebecca glanced at Damon and saw that some of the fire from his argument with his father had left his eyes and he smiled at her. She smiled back and then noticed that Katherine _and_ Stefan, who were in the room with them, seemed curious about the exchange.

Rebecca blushed even though there really wasn't anything to it. She and Damon were fond of each other, that was all.

* * *

Later that same day Rebecca was out on the porch of the huge white Colonial house just sitting, enjoying the quiet, when suddenly it wasn't quiet anymore. Damon and Stefan came running out the door like little children. Damon had a leather ball in his hand, a football.

"Wait, where did you learn this game?" Stefan asked.

"Camp outside Atlanta. One of the officers picked it up at Harvard. Catch."

Stefan did as Damon had asked and then Damon charged at him.

"Wait, wait, what're the rules?"

Rebecca then felt Katherine's presence before Katherine spoke.

"Who needs rules?"

That was the first time Katherine's voice had gotten on Rebecca's nerves. It was like nails on a chalkboard.

"Mind if I join you?" she asked the two brothers.

"Well, you could get hurt," Stefan said. "My brother likes to play rough."

"Somehow I think that you play rougher," Katherine teased. Then she stole the ball and took off running. Stefan just looked after her and Rebecca rolled her eyes.

Damon watched and then looked at Stefan, blue eyes full of amusement.

"Why're you just standing there? That is clearly a girl who wants to be chased. If you don't do it, I will."

Then both Salvatore brothers took off running, leaving Rebecca on the porch, grinning at their playful antics. She'd expected it from Damon; Stefan, not so much.

* * *

Mystic Falls was crawling with vampires, two of which were Pearl and Annabelle, the first of which owned the apothecary. Rebecca met them one day when Damon had escorted her into town. They'd both known Katherine in Atlanta - Pearl was one of Katherine's friends.

There was a young black man named Harper who was a vampire; a young white man named Henry. Both Henry and Harper had come with Pearl and Annabelle. Then there was Fredrick and Bethanne. Rebecca wasn't sure where they'd come from, but they were vampires nonetheless.

Rebecca had yet to hear of any humans being attacked, so she kept her nose out of it.

Pearl and Annabelle were both able to walk around in the sun so they had to have a stone somewhere on them; Rebecca just couldn't see it.

On the day of the dinner/dance thing Rebecca woke up feeling odd. There wasn't anything in particular; she just had a weird feeling. It made her anxious. She'd felt that way since Katherine's arrival.

Tabitha was in her room like she was every morning, only this time she'd prepared a nice bath for Rebecca.

"Thank you, Tabitha," Rebecca said sincerely.

"You're welcome, Mizz Becca." Tabitha gave her a slight smile. "Mr. Damon wishes to see you when you're ready."

"Tell him I'll be there shortly. Thank you."

When she was clean and fresh - she still wasn't used to using baking soda on her teeth - she slipped on a lilac colored dress. No corset - she was still against the use of them unless completely necessary; they were medieval torture devices as far as she was concerned.

Once downstairs she went in search of Damon and found Stefan instead. He had a Shakespeare book in his lap. Hamlet.

"Hello, Stefan," she said, announcing her presence. "Hamlet, huh? Incest and murder and vengeance, oh my!"

Stefan smiled softly and shut the book, marking his place with his finger. "Why does it not surprise me that you know Shakespeare?"

"Because hopefully you've learned by now that I know a lot of things. Where's Damon? Tabitha said he was asking for me."

"He's right out on the porch."

"Thank you, Stefan."

Sure enough, Damon was there. Rebecca slipped her arms around him even though public displays of affection were frowned upon in this time period. Damon was shaking his head at his father, who was about twenty yards away ordering a few servants to put some lanterns in the ground on either side of the pathway that led to the house.

Damon made some comment about Giuseppe being ostentatious and then grabbed her hand and led her off the porch. Their favorite spot was by the pond, so she was sure that was where they were headed.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, squeezing his hand. "Did you change your mind about the war? Are you leaving?"

"No. Nothing's wrong. I just wanted to see you." He looked into her eyes so she could tell he was being honest. "That color looks lovely on you."

"Thank you." She smiled. "So, tonight . . . I'm not going to have to wear a frou-frou dress, am I?"

Damon's brows furrowed in confusion. "What's a frou-frou dress?"

She'd known he was going to say that.

"You know those big poofy ones. I don't like them. The dress I had made . . . I don't have to where a hoop under it, do I?"

"You and your words," he said, laughing. "Wear what you want."

"Okay." Layers would do, she guessed; it was better than the hoop thing. "Damon? I'm nervous."

"You . . . Nervous? Never."

She smiled softly. "I don't know these people and they don't know me."

"Well, there are the Forbes'; Mr. Forbes is the Sheriff. The Lockwood's; Mr. Lockwood is the mayor. Jonathon Gilbert; he's an inventor. Father thinks he's crazy, but he's easy to get along with. Just agree with whatever he says and he'll stop talking faster."

Gilbert, Forbes, Lockwood. It struck her dumb for a minute because she knew these people's descendants. Elena and Jeremy Gilbert; Caroline Forbes; Tyler Lockwood. Caroline's mom was the Sheriff in her time period; Tyler's dad was the mayor. Things were set up that way, maybe.

Damon slid his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. He'd obviously sensed her sudden mood change, because his hold was comforting. They sat on a white coated bench and she leaned against him. She still had that anxious feeling down in her stomach and it was starting to throw her. Maybe the day had come and she'd have to leave. She hoped that wasn't the case, for Damon's sake and her own.

She wanted to tell him, warn him in some way, but she didn't know how. It wasn't fair, what she was doing. She knew that one day she wouldn't be there and she continued to let Damon get closer to her.

She was being selfish, but she didn't want to let him go.

* * *

At the dinner servants brought out pheasant with cornbread as the main course. Dinner conversation was about the animal attacks. Some of the people were angry; others were just scared and worried. Most of the women had almost been too scared to come to the dinner.

Rebecca wanted to say 'notice you're still alive' but she held her tongue.

After dinner the guests were served wine and it was sweet; Rebecca had to remind herself not to drink too much. She did not want to get tipsy here. Though she appreciated the wine when she had to dance. It gave her a little courage. For the first couple of steps she looked at their feet, making sure she matched his moves. Then he tilted her chin up so she'd look at his face instead. She smiled shyly, but felt better when she saw the total adoration in his eyes.

After that the dance seemed easy.

Stefan danced with her a few times after getting Damon's permission and Rebecca found the younger Salvatore was not very graceful, but she had fun teasing him fondly.

Then a drunken louse named George Lockwood had wanted a dance - she guessed being an ass was inherited. She'd almost had no choice because she'd been left alone for a second and he didn't seem the type to take no for an answer. She'd even reached out a hand, slowly and hesitantly; her hand had almost been in his and then Damon was there.

He was glaring at the other man - uh-oh, Alpha Male showdown - and she was grabbing Damon's hand instead. Thank God.

Damon led her away from the Lockwood boy and she danced with him again.

"Ugh, I thought I was gonna have to dance with that creep!"

"I shouldn't have left you alone. My mistake."

"Well, you're here now." She smiled. "Don't go anywhere."

Damon didn't leave her side again that night.

* * *

Okay, so here is more of her being in the past. What's gonna happen? LOL. You know Katherine's gotta cause trouble somehow because that's who she is. Anyway, hope you enjoyed.


	8. Chapter 6 CP

Okay, here's another small glimpse into Damon's thoughts in 2009 as he's remembering all this new stuff with Rebecca in it. He's still a little conflicted I think. LOL. But he wouldn't be Damon if he wasn't.

Chapter Six  
Companion piece

Mystic Falls, 2009

_Damon and Rebecca were dancing in the gardens of Veritas. Damon had learned to dance a long time ago; it was part of his upbringing. They were just having fun, twirling and touching chastely._

_Rebecca made him feel alive with just a touch of her hand, with just a smile at something he'd done or said. He could make her happy and she could make him feel like nobody else could._

_He could see himself being with her for the rest of his life. They could go wherever she wanted; if she wanted something he'd see she got it. If things kept going the way they were maybe he would ask her to marry him in the future. Not in the near future, of course, but sometime . . ._

Damon was in bed again and had been dreaming again. That was mostly how the memories came to him, in his sleep. Well, he was still a vampire so Rebecca obviously hadn't changed that. Yet.

His human self had been completely happy having Rebecca there with him, but vampire Damon knew it was doomed to fail. She couldn't stay there. She had to come back some time and then . . . His human self would be devastated. Rebecca was playing with him with her shy smiles and small kisses and it wasn't fair and he couldn't do anything about it but wait for the hurt to come. Because he would no doubt feel it, or remember feeling it.

It. Wasn't. Fair.

He knew Rebecca couldn't tell his human self the truth, and it was probably smart for her not to have, but still . . . Rebecca had to know they couldn't work. That she couldn't stay with him. So why was she getting closer to him when she knew . . . When she knew she'd have to leave sometime?

But she really was blossoming into a beautiful woman while with him - or human him. And was helping human him learn to really care - unselfishly - and vampire Damon didn't like it. Because he could remember how it felt to be genuinely cared for by a woman and it pissed him off that it wasn't Katherine doing it. Though Katherine was still there in his thoughts so obviously having a vampire slayer around hadn't kept Katherine from coming to Veritas too.

Damon felt odd every time he gained a new memory. He wondered if that was what making someone remember something with compulsion felt like. He wondered if when he compelled someone to forget him biting them felt as odd as that. Did they sense that that memory shouldn't be there, or that they had forgotten something important?

_Ugh, who cares?_

Damon remembered the night he'd found out Rebecca was a Slayer. His ass of a father had used it to corner her into helping even though he could tell she had wanted nothing to do with it at all. He knew now that Rebecca had killed at least one vampire but she'd taken no joy in it.

It had been self defense if her story was anything to go by.

She'd given him a choice; he could've walked away and she would've understood. But he hadn't. He'd gone with her to her bedroom and listened to her explanation. He had tried to believe her, but he had kind of thought she was a little crazy. She'd been honest though, and she'd had to know his vampire self would remember, which meant she hadn't minded him knowing. She might have even wanted him to know just in case she did get to come back. She'd told him she wouldn't know what do without him.

But that had been then.

* * *

It had been a month since Rebecca had been . . . missing. Everyone was still worried but they had stopped looking. People probably thought she was dead, what with the _animal_ attacks and all.

Damon's memories included Katherine now, but as he'd thought . . . his human self didn't even really notice Katherine Pierce. Yes, he was civil and he noticed her beauty, but he wasn't interested.

His human self had noticed that Rebecca seemed a bit off since Katherine had arrived and he didn't understand it. Vampire Damon did. Rebecca could feel that Katherine was a vampire - she'd been able to sense him too when he'd met her, but she hadn't known what it had been. It had been new to her. But other than that, there was Elena, who was Katherine's doppelganger.

Rebecca was still nice to Katherine whether she knew the girl was a vampire or not. But Damon guessed that was just Rebecca. Katherine seemed to get along with Rebecca okay, but that could've been an act. Katherine had been good at manipulating people to get what she wanted.

With his human self absorbed in Rebecca, it had left Katherine to give all her attention to Stefan. And he didn't like it, Damon didn't. Not the one from the present, anyway. It was supposed to be him and her, not Stefan and her.

He remembered the time he and Rebecca had gone swimming and he had been shocked, his human self had. Again, women didn't just undress in front of people back then. That was when Damon figured out Rebecca Stone was a tease. She gave all these shy smiles and innocent looks; well, she may have been innocent but she definitely wasn't naïve. She knew what she was doing when she'd looked back at him to see if he was going to follow.

He'd followed, of course. And had gotten splashed for his efforts. Rebecca had obviously seen he was nervous - how embarrassing - and had done it to make him feel better.

* * *

One thing that had changed because of Rebecca was that Damon had actually _told_ his father that he wasn't going back to fight in the war. Originally Damon just hadn't gone back, he hadn't told anybody anything. He'd actually lied and told everybody he'd still been on leave.

One thing that hadn't changed was he and Stefan playing football, sort of, with Katherine. Damon had chased her for fun and Stefan had joined in. Rebecca had allowed it without complaint. Most girls were more possessive and jealous.

Like Caroline Forbes, Damon's flavor of the week. She was a total ditz, but she was also food. She talked too much for his liking and sometimes he actually compelled her to stay quiet; he was surprised it didn't kill her to not speak. Damon understood about having to tolerate her now.

So far he'd only fed from her twice and the morning after would've been amusing if it hadn't been annoying. The plan had been to feed and make her forget, but she'd attacked him, so . . .

He had chosen her because she was desperate for attention and he was hungry; also he had no worries about forming attachments with this one. He'd kill her if he had to put up with her for more than an hour or two.

Damon remembered the dance he'd escorted Rebecca to. He'd danced with her most of the night except for the few times he'd switched with Stefan. Stefan had asked permission and Damon hadn't minded as long as he had been able to dance with Katherine. Turnabout was fair play.

He, however, hadn't been okay with that Lockwood guy dancing with her; he hadn't allowed that. George Lockwood had been gross and obscene in the best of times and he'd been drinking that night. There was no way he'd been about to leave Rebecca with him. Not to mention all the Lockwood's had been notorious for their tempers.

Rebecca had shined that night and she hadn't even noticed. She'd been more worried about noticing _him_. Except for the few dances she'd shared with Stefan - and most of that had been spent teasing him about his two left feet - she'd been entirely focused on him. And he'd liked it.

He still sort of liked it or the memory of it anyway

* * *

As I said, Damon is conflicted. He doesn't know whether these new memories are a good thing are not because he's not sure what's gonna happen. I know this was short, but that's because I didn't need to cover EVERYTHING that had happened in the last chapter, just the key points.

Hope you enjoyed!


	9. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Rebecca was miserable. Ever since the day of the dance Damon had changed. He'd become less attentive to her; he started spending more and more time with Katherine. She wondered if he'd spent time with her the first time around. Either way, something was wrong. Damon was unflinchingly loyal and he wouldn't just wake up one morning and stop caring about her. Damon was still nice to her, but they weren't intimate.

She didn't mean physically - they hadn't gone that far yet and if he was losing interest, she was glad they hadn't. She laughed and smiled and pretended everything was fine when she saw Damon and Katherine together. She pretended it didn't hurt to see him acting like a love sick idiot over another girl.

Rebecca was sitting on the porch, reading a book, when someone sat beside her. Katherine's handmaid.

"Miss, may I please have a moment of your time?"

"Certainly. Please, call me Rebecca. What's your name?"

"Emily Bennett, Miss."

Bennett? As in Bonnie and Sheila Bennett?

Emily then made the most unusual request. "May I touch your hand?"

"Um . . . Okay." Rebecca grinned. "You a fortune teller or something?"

"Or something."

Rebecca handed Emily her hand and Emily embraced it in both hands. Emily didn't space out like Bonnie did but Rebecca could tell Emily was trying to see something.

"You're a witch," Rebecca said, not yanking her hand back.

"And you are a vampire slayer. Not from this time period."

Rebecca felt a surge of hope. "Can you send me back?" If she couldn't be with Damon then she had no reason to stay here.

"No. You know that. The spell has to do whatever it is your witch cast it for."

_My witch_, Rebecca thought. It wasn't like she _owned_ Sheila. Besides, Sheila hadn't done the spell, she had. Unwittingly, of course.

"You know what Katherine is yet she's still walking around," Emily said.

"I haven't heard of anybody dying."

"Katherine knows how to blend in and be safe."

After that last statement Emily strolled off the porch and away from Rebecca.

* * *

Rebecca had taken to patrolling the area around Veritas. It wasn't so much that she didn't trust the vampires here, it was just that there we so many of them and she wanted to know what they were up to. It was nighttime now and she had snuck out of the house quite easily. Along with strength she'd also seemed to pick up the gift of stealth; she was quiet as a mouse.

Once in town - she knew she probably shouldn't have strayed that far - she tried to keep herself focused but there were people everywhere. Didn't people go to sleep early here? Or weren't they supposed to? People back in the day were supposed to be early-to-bed-early-to-rise type people. It would've been easier for her if that were true.

She ran into Pearl, Annabelle, and Harper, the last of which seemed strangely attached to Pearl. She exchanged pleasantries and went on her way. Then she came across Damon, who was coming out of a tavern; he wasn't drunk or anything so that was a plus. She wished she could tell him that the woman he'd been hanging around lately was a vampire, but he'd probably laugh in her face.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked, seemingly surprised to see her.

"Walking?" Innocent enough, right?

"Peculiar time for a walk."

Rebecca shrugged. "I guess. I have nothing else to do. My closest friend abandoned me." She glared at him pointedly.

Damon looked as if she had struck him. "I didn't. That's not what I'm doing."

"That's what it feels like. I mean, one minute you say that nothing will change the way you feel about me, and the next you're gallivanting around with Katherine. Like you're flaunting the fact that you're done with me."

"I . . ." His brow furrowed. "It's hard to explain, but I can't help it. I feel like I have to."

"What? You can't help it? You _have_ to. What does that mean?"

Was he just making excuses?

"I don't know. Just that when I'm around her I have to do the things I do."

And just like that, it clicked. Katherine was compelling Damon for some reason. Boredom, maybe? But whatever it was, Katherine was making Damon infatuated with the wrong girl. Rebecca felt stupid for not thinking of compulsion before.

She was going to have to do something, something that would hopefully be non-violent. Maybe she could tell Katherine how important Damon was to her and that would be that. She'd have to do it soon because she hated not being able to spend time with Damon; he was the only reason she hadn't gone completely insane.

"Come along, Miss Rebecca. Let's get you home."

Home? Yes. Home was with him, wherever that was.

Back at Veritas Damon walked Rebecca back to her room and she appreciated it, but she waited until he was completely out of sight and then she went to the room next to hers; Katherine's room. She knocked first because she could ask nicely; she could be civil about this. At first.

Katherine opened the door and just like every other time Rebecca had seen her she had to stop and stare for a moment. She looked just like Elena.

"Yes?" Katherine asked.

"I want to talk to you."

"It's late," Katherine said.

"I'm aware. Let me in," Rebecca demanded. "Or I could tell everyone you're a you-know-what and _they_ can deal with you. I'm sure Mr. Salvatore would be delighted to know his oldest son is spending time with you."

Katherine allowed Rebecca in. Rebecca felt a little bit smug knowing she had the upper hand at the moment.

"You know what I am," Katherine deduced.

Rebecca was surprised that Emily hadn't told Katherine about her. Or that Damon hadn't.

"I do. I also know how to kill you." Rebecca was surprised that she'd said that; she wasn't usually so confrontational. "Leave Damon alone."

"I'm not hurting him," Katherine said, her lips curling upward. "He's quite happy. And satisfied."

Oh, God, Damon had slept with her. Or Katherine was insinuating that they had been together in that way.

"Maybe. But you are taking away his freedom of choice and that's wrong. Find somebody else to play with."

Rebecca walked out of the room with the feeling that she'd made things a lot worse. What if she'd unwittingly endangered Damon's life? Katherine could easily hurt him or worse just to prove a point. That Rebecca did not have the upper hand.

* * *

The next morning Rebecca found herself knocking on Giuseppe's study door.

"Yes?"

She assumed that meant she could enter so she stepped inside. Giuseppe was sitting behind his desk writing in a leather bound book. A journal, maybe?

"Mr. Salvatore, I'd like to speak with you. Here. Privately."

"Certainly. Have a seat."

"I'd rather stand, thank you." She started pacing the length of the room. "I know a lot about vampires. I don't want to have anything to do with killing them, but I can tell you what to do, their weaknesses."

"Any of your input would be very welcome, Miss Stone."

"Okay. First and foremost, vampires need blood to survive, but I think the vampires in this town are feeding on animal blood, or at the very least . . . They're not killing when they feed. It's blood, if they don't drink, they'll starve. I can't fault them for wanting to survive."

"That's quite a soft way of thinking," Giuseppe insulted.

"If you don't like it, I can leave. Let you figure all this out on your own," she shot back.

Giuseppe looked like he wanted to tell her off for speaking to him that way, but he didn't.

"Proceed," was all he said.

"Vampires have a way of controlling you. It's called compulsion. They get into your mind, make you do what they want. But you can stop it with an herb called vervain. I don't know how or why, but if it's in you or on you a vampire can't control you. You can drink it or wear it."

She grabbed at the cross at her neck; she hadn't taken it off since Sheila had given it to her.

"My necklace has liquid vervain in it, so I can't be compelled."

Onto the next topic . . .

"Vampires look human. Only when they feed do they show who they really are - or if they lose control, but that's a different story altogether. They don't have to kill when they feed, but some choose to. Others feed and then erase the memory of the victim having been attacked. I've seen it happen. It doesn't make it right, but the victim is left alive and relatively okay. Weak the next day, but alive."

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly; she was about to lie a little - or omit a truth really.

"Vampires are nocturnal by nature."

The only reason Rebecca said that was because she didn't want to say anything that would endanger Stefan and Damon from the future, and telling about the Lapis Lazuli stone being able to protect them would definitely endanger them. She was assuming, of course, that she hadn't already messed up their futures.

"When a vampire walks in the sunlight, they will burn. Fire, beheading, stake to the heart. They will die and stay dead. It will get the job done. Oh, and vervain can make vampires weak if it gets in their system. I suggest you start ingesting it. In case you're attacked. You need to find a way to obtain some."

"The servants already grow it, for the fragrance."

"Well, good. Start using it. The vampires may be closer than you think."

* * *

Rebecca's little talk with Katherine hadn't made things better at all. Now instead of Damon just spending time with Katherine, he was claiming he loved her. Apparently, Giuseppe hadn't gotten the vervain yet or if he had, Damon hadn't been dosed with it yet.

So Rebecca was pretty much stuck between a rock and a hard place. She couldn't help Damon by killing Katherine because if Rebecca killed Katherine while Damon was under the impression that he loved her, he would hate Rebecca forever. Katherine had made Damon forget his love for Rebecca and had made him loyal to her. And the bitch was that Rebecca couldn't _do_ anything about it, not without hurting Damon and she didn't want to do that.

Of course, Katherine knew that and she was using it against her. It seemed she held all the cards right now.

Elena and Katherine may have looked alike, but Katherine was the complete opposite of Elena. Elena cared about others; Katherine was all about number one, which to her was herself. Katherine was an evil-bitch-monster-of-death. That was Rebecca's name for Katherine now.

Katherine had begun playing with both brothers - she was even feeding from Stefan; Rebecca hadn't seen any bite marks, but she knew the signs. Stefan had become pale and weak - he seemed exhausted all the time.

Worse than that, though, was she'd found out that while she'd been 'minding her own business' Katherine and maybe some of the other vampires had been turning the citizens of the surrounding towns. People hadn't been going missing, really, because they were still there. They weren't alive anymore, they were undead.

"Miss Stone?"

Giuseppe knocked on her door and cracked it open enough for him to speak to her.

"Yes, Mr. Salvatore?"

"Get dressed. I'm heading to a meeting and you're coming with me. Since you've told me all you know the town's people have formed a council. The Lockwood's, the Forbes', the Gilbert's, my family, the Fells'."

"Then shouldn't Stefan and Damon be going?"

"Stefan isn't looking well, and my other good-for-nothing -"

"Don't talk about him like that," Rebecca cut him off. "Just because he doesn't follow you blindly doesn't make him a bad person. Or a bad son."

Giuseppe stepped inside the room. "He's insolent and -"

"He does what he wants and you can't stand it. You're overbearing and you treat him harshly -"

Giuseppe then swung his fist at her - reflex reaction probably - and she was too shocked to respond quickly enough to stop him.

"I've had about enough of your back talking!"

"Father?"

Damon had entered the room just as Rebecca's head snapped to the side from the force of Giuseppe's strike. Damon looked indignant and concerned.

"What kind of man are you that strikes a lady? She's a guest in our house and you treat her like this?"

Giuseppe didn't even acknowledge Damon's presence. He only turned to Rebecca and said, "I'll be waiting downstairs."

"Hold your breath until I get there," Rebecca seethed.

As Giuseppe left Damon came further into the room and stopped in front of her. He tilted her chin up to examine the damage; Rebecca knew her bottom lip had been spilt, she'd felt the sting as it had happened.

Damon wiped the blood away with his thumb and she could tell by the tenderness he was showing her that, even though Katherine was controlling him, he could still feel _some_ of what he had before. Katherine could compel him to think he didn't love her anymore, but she couldn't compel his heart to believe the same. It felt so good knowing that that her heart almost burst with joy.

"Are you alright?" he asked, leading her to the bed and making her sit. "I didn't mean to intrude, but I heard voices and I heard what you said. You . . . defended me and I saw what Father did. He's a bastard, anyway.

"I'm fine."

Damon walked over to her wash basin - it always had fresh water in it, thanks to Tabitha - and wet a cloth, which he then placed on her lip. The water was cold enough to keep her lip from swelling.

"He shouldn't have laid a hand on you."

"No, he shouldn't have," Rebecca agreed.

"Why didn't you stop him? You could have."

She smiled softly and shrugged. "I was surprised. I didn't expect him to do that."

She noticed Damon was doing that thing where he examined her expressions.

"What?"

"I don't know why, but I had this urgent need to . . . comfort you," Damon sort of blurted out.

Her smile grew wider even though it sort of hurt to smile. "Maybe you're fond of me." Then more seriously, she added, "And I defended you because it's true. That's how I feel. You being with Katherine doesn't change that. As long as I'm here, I'll be here for you."

"Thank you," he almost whispered, a small but sincere smile gracing his lips. She obviously still got to him.

Rebecca reached up to touch his cheek briefly and then sighed knowing she was probably getting ready to say the wrong thing.

"Look, this isn't going to make any sense to you right now, but . . . I know you still feel something for me or you wouldn't be here. Don't you . . . remember anything about us? We were better together than you and Katherine. You deserve better than her. Please . . ."

* * *

As Damon sat there on the bed with her, listening to her talk about him, he couldn't help but wonder what she was talking about. He knew they had a history, but that was done, wasn't it? Katherine had taken her place - very easily if Damon was being honest with himself; too easily. Damon could see he had hurt Rebecca and he hadn't meant to. He had a feeling by doing that he had hurt himself too, or had deprived himself of something good.

"You're been spending a lot of time with Katherine," she said softly, sadly. "But so has Stefan. You realize she's playing with you both?"

"She is . . . undecided about what she wants," Damon defended, much like he would have defended Rebecca not too long ago.

"Hm."

Damon bit his lip, feeling quite undecided himself at the moment. "I owe you an apology. When you told me about who you are I couldn't believe you."

"And now?" she asked, breath catching in her throat.

"Now, given who I have been spending time with . . . I see you were right."

"You mean you know about Katherine? She told you?"

"Yes. She also told me that you know. How did you find out?"

"Her necklace." Rebecca sounded hesitant; that was the first time she'd ever hesitated to tell him anything. Damon didn't like it. He liked when he was able to talk to her about anything, when _she_ could talk to _him_ about anything.

"And I have a built-in detector; I can _feel_ when vampires are around." She bit her lip. "You know I would never do anything to hurt you, right? So . . . As long as you love her I won't tell. I couldn't hurt you like that."

It may have been a weakness to think that way, but she couldn't help it. Her feelings were getting ready to make her offer something she really didn't want to offer.

"Your father and some of the other townspeople have gotten together. They have meetings that your father wants me to go to. I can . . . keep up with what they're doing, how far they're getting. I can warn you if they get close to the truth. If you want me to."

"Why would you do that?"

She grabbed his hand and he let her lace their fingers together. He seemed to be entranced even though she couldn't compel anyone. Then she admitted something to him that she hadn't before.

"Because I love you, Damon. No matter what Katherine makes you think, I love you."

She felt his hand jerk in hers, but he wasn't trying to get away. It was as if he'd been shocked that she'd said that.

His eyes were softening, almost like they used to do when he would look at her. It made her smile then she let his hand go.

"I need to go to that inane meeting. I'll talk to you in the morning?"

Damon nodded. "Thank you. I won't forget this."

"I know you won't," Rebecca said. "Which is why I don't mind doing this."

She then kissed him on the cheek but kept it friendly. She didn't want to make him uncomfortable.

* * *

Rebecca decided to play nice with Giuseppe, though if he ever hit her again she wouldn't just let him get away with it. He hadn't seen ornery from her yet. No matter what time period she was in, women didn't deserve to be hit by men.

Giuseppe and Rebecca got in a carriage that had been set up by a stable boy. They didn't talk at all, which she was completely content with. She wasn't very fond of Giuseppe; she wondered if he ever hit Damon.

The first time he spoke, he said, "Here we are."

_Here_ was an old mansion on the other side of town. The mansion was falling apart; she hoped it didn't collapse while she was inside.

"This is the Gilbert mansion," Giuseppe explained. "He inherited it from his father."

Rebecca didn't really care, but she didn't want to get into it with him again. She followed him obediently - since that was his favorite word - up the steps.

A man, small in stature, opened the door. He had a head and face full of dark hair.

"Ah, you must be Miss Stone," the man said, offering her his hand. "Jonathan Gilbert. Please come in."

Rebecca went in, wondering what exactly Giuseppe had been telling the council.

"You shouldn't invite just anyone into your house, Mr. Gilbert. Vampires can't get in without an invitation. If either Mr. Salvatore or myself had been turned you would probably be dead now."

Jonathan's face went pale and she shook her head, almost amused.

"I'm not a vampire, promise. You are completely safe."

Jonathan then led her and Giuseppe to a study/library type room. Sheriff Forbes, Mayor Lockwood, and Honoria Fell were there. Rebecca understood Jonathan, Giuseppe, the Sheriff, and the Mayor, but . . . Honoria Fell? Wasn't she just a dressmaker? Maybe she was standing in for her husband, assuming she had one.

Giuseppe introduced her properly even though she'd spoken briefly to each of them at least once before. As they were all introduced, they began sitting down, all of them, on wooden chairs. Rebecca felt so out of place in that room, so young around this group of old people. They were acting stuffy and, amusingly enough, dead.

"Let's begin," Giuseppe said.

Jonathan, who was seated behind a desk, began riffling through papers and suddenly drew tools and other odds and ends out of the drawers in the desk.

"Fire," Giuseppe said. "Fire kills them as does beheading and a stake to the heart. There are herbs that can protect us. Vervain."

"Vervain?" Honoria asked.

"If you wear it, it will protect you," Rebecca said. She then explained it as she had to Giuseppe that it could be ingested as well as worn. It would weaken vampires if it got in their system.

"You're telling me that a flower will protect me?" Mayor Lockwood asked skeptically.

"It's an herb," Rebecca said, irritated by the mostly male energy in the room. "Wear it, don't wear it. Ingest it, don't ingest it. I don't really care, but I'm telling you the truth."

"We can discuss vervain later," Jonathan Gilbert said. "Honoria and Rebecca can assure we have a steady supply. But there are other ways to find the vampires."

All eyes fell on Jonathan as he spread a paper out over his desk. There was a complicated drawing on said paper of . . . compass parts?

"A compass?"

"Yes," Jonathan said excitedly. "But instead of finding north, it finds vampires."

"It'll work?" Giuseppe asked skeptically; Rebecca couldn't blame him for that one.

"It will."

"Hm. Here's what I propose then. Vervain. Mr. Gilbert, make sure the compass works and we make a plan. By month's end our town will be safe."

* * *

Once outside Rebecca told Giuseppe that she'd walk home. She used the excuse of patrolling when, in reality, she just wanted to be alone.

So far all she knew was that by the end of November, the town would find a way to get rid of all the vampires or they would die trying.

As Rebecca walked she found herself missing her I-pod. That was one material thing she missed from her time period - her music; so much better in her world.

She missed her dad in a weird way. Her dad was overbearing too, but at least he'd never hit her. She missed Jeremy and his little brother ways. She missed Elena, who was so much different than her look-alike. She missed Bonnie, who was sweet and caring. She even missed obnoxious Caroline.

She missed Chelsea and the complete innocence one could feel just from looking at her. She even missed taking care of her; Rebecca had taken it upon herself to be the girl's mom since she didn't have one.

Rebecca had held these things back in her subconscious for so long - Damon had helped - but now that they had dredged themselves up she couldn't push them back down. She had tried so hard to pretend she could make it here, but the truth was this wasn't her world. She wanted to go home; she just didn't know how to go about doing that. She wanted to take Damon with her even though she had one in her time period already. But the one from her world was completely different from 1864 Damon. She didn't really know him and she wasn't exactly sure how he felt about her. Sure, they got along okay, but she didn't know how much of that was an act and how much was real.

Then suddenly someone lifted her and threw her against a tree. _Ow_. She hadn't been paying attention and now she was paying for it. Her back hit the solid tree and she fell to the ground and landed on her knees. A guy with black hair and a beard had attacked her.

She recognized him as Fredrick.

"You know it's not safe out here at night," he said, his tone mocking. "Especially for a slayer like yourself."

How did he know what she was? It wasn't like she wore a Slayer jacket or anything like that.

"I've been around a while," he said, obviously sensing her confusion. "I've met a few of your kind."

"Oh?" Rebecca stood up and grabbed the first branch thick enough to use as a stake. "Did you know it's rude to sneak up on people?"

He didn't say anything; he just moved so fast it was almost a blur and grabbed her by the throat and began choking her. For a split second she panicked. Then she grabbed his hand and twisted until he let go. That's when she realized . . . She was stronger than him. He seemed shocked by that fact.

"Fredrick, leave the girl alone," a commanding voice said from the shadows of the trees. "Let me handle it."

About ten other vampires stepped out of the darkness, two of which were Pearl and her daughter Annabelle. The others looked familiar, but she didn't know their names.

"Miss Stone, I'm going to try to convince Katherine that we should leave." Pearl said. "I realize she's taken something from you - or more precisely, someone - I'll try to get her to give him back."

"You don't know what it's like for us," Annabelle said. "People notice when we don't grow older. I like it here. I don't want to be sent away."

She didn't have to worry about being sent away, if the council had its way all the vampires would soon die.

"The animal attacks?" Rebecca asked.

"We need blood to live; we don't need it from humans. We can get it from animals. Some of us have less self-control than others."

Pearl looked pointedly at Fredrick.

"Now we are all being hunted. Just this afternoon Giuseppe Salvatore brought a vervain concoction to the apothecary. I know you told him about the vervain and I know you had a good reason. But people are going to start buying it now, which means they will start using it."

"Vervain is the least of your problems," Rebecca said. She didn't have a problem with Pearl or Annabelle or any of the others - aside from Katherine and now Fredrick. "The council is planning on rounding up all the vampires by the end of the month. Trust me, it would be in your best interest to leave as soon as possible."

Rebecca threw down her stake and turned to walk away. "We're done here," she said over her shoulder.

* * *

A little over a week later the town had its very first Founder's Ball. Rebecca didn't want to go; she really wasn't interested in those types of things. She knew that Giuseppe, his sons, and Katherine were going; Katherine was going with Stefan, which left Damon alone, sadly. So . . . That was how she found herself at the Founder's Ball watching Damon wish he were at the dance with Katherine.

Rebecca couldn't stay long. She had other, more pressing matters to attend to, but for now . . . she was at the original Lockwood mansion.

After the first waltz was over she took Damon's hand and led him away from the dance floor.

"Okay. This is a last ditch effort." Before Damon could comment on her terrible language, she continued. "I'm going to say something that you might not want to hear. You're . . . you need to snap out of it. Katherine is using a form of mind compulsion on you and it's making you miserable. You are wasting your time on someone who doesn't even see what a good thing she has."

"Mind compulsion?" Damon shook his head. "No, that's not possible."

"Really? Then you forgot about me all on your own? I mean that little to you?" That was all she had to hold onto. The fact that Katherine couldn't erase feelings. Memories, yes; feelings, no. They were still there even if Damon didn't remember why.

When Damon didn't say anything Rebecca just shook her head. There was no reasoning with someone who was being compelled.

"Okay, well . . . I can't say I didn't try. I'm going to go for a walk and then I'm going to go home."

"You shouldn't walk back alone. It isn't safe."

"Then come with me," she whispered. "Forget about Katherine for a few hours."

Damon sighed but let a small smile through anyway. "As you wish."

The walk home was quiet, peaceful and comfortable. Rebecca noticed Damon did his best to fulfill her _wish_. He dropped her off at her room, kissed her goodnight on the cheek in a friendly way, and she watched as he went to his own room.

After Rebecca was sure the house was empty save for the servants and Damon she snuck into Giuseppe's study. She'd told anyone who'd asked that she was looking for a book. Good excuse because the study was also the library.

Once inside she left the door unlocked; nothing said suspicious like locking a door once you got inside a room. The study was musty and hot even though it was the second week of November. She tried not to move anything much so that when Giuseppe returned he wouldn't know she'd been there. There was a leather bound book, which she took for a journal and found she was right when she opened it.

It was the same book he'd been writing in when she'd spoken to him that one time.

She didn't read much; she didn't care enough to. But she saw enough to know that her name was mentioned more than once and it made her laugh when she was called 'willful and insolent'. It was also hinted that the rest of the council members kept journals too. She needed to get her hands on those, see if she'd been written about. People in the future could _not_ know she had poofed back into the past somehow.

Another thing she was interested in was the fact that Giuseppe knew about Emily being a witch. Emily Bennett; she was going to do something to help the council find the vampires. She was putting herself at risk to help the townspeople.

Putting the journal back in place, she moved on to the other things on the desk. A drawn out map of the town on the desk showed the places the council suspected vampires were residing. The apothecary was one of them.

Pearl and Annabelle. Rebecca felt a jolt of sympathy for Annabelle, who had been turned when she was so young she'd never have a chance at any kind of normal life. She would never be able to stay more than a few years in one place at any given time.

Then she went back to the journal to see what the map was about. The council was planning to catch all the vampires and take them to a church nearby. Fells Church. They were going to burn them to death. It would happen on the last day of November.

* * *

Okay, here's another chapter done! As you can see I've changed it to where Damon was being compelled the whole time. Katherine is using Damon as a means to make sure Rebecca behaves because Katherine wouldn't understand that if she'd left Becca alone, Becca would've probably left her alone.

Anyway, let me know what you guys think. Thanks in advance, LOL. :)


	10. Chapter 7 CP

Chapter Seven  
Companion piece

Mystic Falls, 2009

_That bitch_.

Damon didn't know whether he was cursing Katherine or Rebecca.

The first time around Katherine hadn't had to compel him; he'd been completely and totally hers. Since Rebecca had gone back to mess everything up, Katherine had compelled him to completely forget what he and Rebecca had had. Damon from 1864 didn't know it, of course, because that was the beauty of compulsion; the person only remembered what the vampire wanted them to remember.

But when he'd been changed - he could kind of see where this was going - he remembered.

He'd hurt Rebecca because he'd just dropped her; not his fault, he'd been compelled. Probably because Katherine was greedy. And also because he'd been the perfect person to use to make sure Rebecca behaved. He'd been a pawn.

Damon could see it now because he was a vampire. He could see how much Rebecca was hurting - he assumed it was in the present time for her. She probably felt helpless and if she was anything like he thought she was then that probably made her feel like screaming. Damon didn't think she'd take too well to feeling helpless because usually she had an answer for everything. She took responsibility for things and always found a way to get something done. But . . . Katherine was ruthless and was using the thing that meant the most to Rebecca to keep her in line.

Damon wasn't surprised; Damon hadn't minded that even without the compulsion.

But as he continued remembering the new past he couldn't help thinking that Katherine wasn't Rebecca. It was a complete 180 from what he'd originally thought and Damon didn't know if he should let himself continue down that thought path.

* * *

His father had hit her! He'd hit Rebecca, a woman!

Damon had comforted her, sort of; she hadn't seemed to need much comforting, to be honest. She'd seemed more surprised than anything else.

They had talked and Rebecca had tried to convince him that _they_ were better together than he and Katherine, and this time around they were. Because this time he was being compelled; this time it wasn't real.

And Rebecca had loved him - or if he thought about it in her present tense . . . She loved him now - even after the fact that he'd hurt her. She'd said that she wouldn't tell because he thought he loved Katherine. She couldn't hurt him that way.

Well, he'd have to wait to see how that played out, because she wasn't the first person to promise something to him. Nine times out of ten the promise didn't hold.

* * *

Damon knew Rebecca was the one who told the town about the vampires this time. Not Katherine specifically but about different methods of disposing of them. The town still didn't know about the protection stone known as Lapis Lazuli so she obviously hadn't exposed that secret. He was sure though that if it hadn't been for him she would have.

Jeeze, she was even looking out for the him in 2009. Though, it was only fair; he'd been the one to tell her about the stone anyway. He had been vague, of course, but . . . The point was the same.

_Or I could just be deluding myself_, he thought.

He did that sometimes. Logic-ed himself out of feeling things like gratitude or anything else, really. Him feeling things usually led to him doing something stupid.

But it was hard not to feel _something_ when he had all these new memories rushing into his mind.

Since it was obvious that Rebecca wouldn't kill Katherine since it would hurt him he wondered how it would play out. He was obviously going to be turned or he wouldn't be here remembering these things, but once he died and came back he'd be able to remember that none of the feelings he had for Katherine was for real, not this time. So how would Rebecca take him as a vampire?

He wondered how much else would change before Rebecca came back.

Begrudgingly, he admitted he kind of wanted her back _now_.

* * *

As you can see Damon is still conflicted, caught between think Rebecca has made everything worse and thinking he doesn't care because he remembers how good they were together. LOL. Poor Damon. And I know this is REALLY short, but my Damon muse didn't have much to say about this chapter.

Love you guys!


	11. Chapter 8

Okay, I'm only posting this one now because I felt bad about the last one - it was really short.

Enjoy!

Chapter Eight

_The last day of November, my ass_, Rebecca thought. It had been two days since Rebecca had broken into Giuseppe's study and gotten wrong information. Probably _planted_ information.

Two days, and now it was pandemonium at Veritas. The council was running around, panicked. Other townspeople she didn't know were in a state of hysteria. She was surprised there hadn't been any civilian casualties yet.

But there would be; she'd learned that much in history class - not that she paid that much attention in history class, but . . .

Rebecca was inside her room in Veritas when she heard something like a small _thump_. Then . . . "I'll take her! We'll leave and you'll never see us again."

Damon. And Katherine. She must've been found out.

She heard something that sounded like, "Then let me be killed!" come from Damon's mouth and then was surprised when he showed up in her room. There was anger and sadness all over his face. He even had tears in his eyes; they hadn't fallen onto his cheeks, but they were still there. She wished briefly that the tears were for her, but she also never wanted to be the cause of so much grief.

"Help me?" he asked brokenly.

She already knew the answer before he'd even finished the question. And because she couldn't stand to see the hurt look on his face, she agreed.

"What do you want me to do?"

Instead of answering he began leading her out of her room and then down the stairs.

"Did you know about this?" he asked, voice hard.

"No. Damon, no. I told Pearl and Annabelle and about ten others that they needed to get their group together and leave. She was supposed to tell Katherine. It - the attack - wasn't supposed to happen until the end of the month. I didn't want to tell you too early in case . . . In case they changed their minds."

"They took her," Damon said, voice shaking. "Stefan told . . . _Father_."

If Damon hadn't been pulling her forward, she'd have stopped short. Was _this_ the reason Damon and Stefan didn't get along in the future? Because of a woman? Because . . . Because Stefan had betrayed Damon? Stefan, who Damon had trusted over everyone else.

And now, now if she didn't help Damon get Katherine back . . . he was going to be broken. Despite the fact that she knew if Katherine got free she'd lose Damon forever, she _had_ to help him for the simple fact that she loved him and she'd rather see him compelled to be happy than to watch him be truly heartbroken because he couldn't be with the one he thought he loved.

"Damn it," she muttered. She realized she needed to save the evil-bitch-monster-of-death in order to save Damon. "You realize we may not have the time to save the other ones, right? So we focus only on Katherine."

"That was my plan," Damon said.

People with torches kept running by them, but nobody ever noticed they were there; they were too focused on the _demons_. Damon led her to the edge of the forest and she wondered what they were doing.

"Wait here, I'll be right back," he said.

Damon took off in the direction of the servants living quarters. He was probably going to Emily. Did he know she was a witch?

Then the other brother squatted down beside her.

"Stefan?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't -"

Rebecca shook her head. "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."

"I want to help."

She was just about ready to thank Stefan so much for his help - sarcastically, of course - considering all the damage he was causing. Then she saw there were bite marks on his neck; they were fresh enough to still be bleeding. She hoped he'd be okay.

As they watched she noticed that Jonathan captured Pearl and Rebecca felt a jolt of sympathy but knew she couldn't do anything for her. They had Pearl and all the other vampires in muzzles - like they were dogs. The vampires were being placed in a police wagon, and she didn't know how the vampires were getting it in their systems, but she could tell they were being weakened by vervain. And . . . They were being shot with wooden bullets. She had to admit it was nifty even if it was cruel.

It was weird having to sit still when she could practically _feel_ the adrenaline rushing through her veins, telling her to join the fray. She had the need to fight and she knew which side she should be fighting on. She'd gladly fight if they had attacked her, but locking them in a building and burning them to death was too gruesome for her to take part in.

When Damon finally returned they waited - Damon reluctantly agreed to let Stefan help, probably as a way to see if he really could trust him - until the wagon was unguarded, and then the three of them went to the makeshift prison. Rebecca yanked the back of the wagon open - it hadn't been locked. It was almost pitch black so it was hard to see, but Damon leapt inside anyway.

"Katherine?" he whispered and began searching.

"Damon?" a female voice answered. Her voice was muffled from the contraption on her face, but it was very obviously Katherine.

Rebecca bit her lip to keep from saying something she'd later regret. On the floor of the wagon were a dozen bodies; some had stakes in them, already dead. No one deserved to be treated this way, no matter what they were. Even Katherine, as evil as she was, didn't deserve to be treated like an animal.

Stefan went in, too, and helped get Katherine out and onto the ground. She had ropes binding her arms and legs. They'd been drenched in vervain, apparently, because her skin was covered in burn marks where the material had had contact. She was wearing one of those muzzle things and Stefan took it off while Damon undid the ropes. Then she heard a shot and she felt her heart stop for a second. Then . . .

"Damon . . ." That was Stefan's voice.

Damon was on the ground, blood oozing from his chest. Rebecca had forgotten Katherine the minute -_ second _- she'd heard the shot ring out. Rebecca put her hands over the wound and pressed even though she knew there was no use.

"Damon!"

Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God!

"No," she said. "No, no, no, no, no."

He was taking his last few breaths and Rebecca had his head on her lap and was caressing his face. She didn't even know if he could feel it, if he even knew she was there. He was white and she could tell he was going into shock.

She locked eyes with him and said, "Damon, I'm here."

Rebecca heard another shot but she didn't look up. She hadn't been the one to be shot so she knew it had been Stefan. And she knew she had to leave, if only for a few minutes. Damon's eyes no longer held any life and she scooted away from him; she couldn't die here.

She ran toward the woods and then, once in the solid darkness, she collapsed and tried to cry. She knew she should feel something, but she couldn't. Except for the fact that it felt like her heart had been ripped out. But of course, who can feel when they don't have a heart?

* * *

Finally the tears came. And once they did, they wouldn't stop. She'd lost the one thing that kept her here. And she still wasn't going back. Her chest had tightened so much it was hurting and her throat was burning. Her eyes were stinging and she could barely breathe for sobbing.

She cried until she heard someone calling her name; a female voice calling out to her. Rebecca didn't respond, though, because she couldn't exactly find her voice.

"Rebecca?" The voice was closer now and she recognized it as Emily's. "You have to come out of the woods. Please?"

Rebecca shook her head once or twice and then covered her face with her hands. She didn't want to move; she just wanted to be left alone. Hell, she didn't know if she could move even if she'd wanted to.

"Damon will need you when he wakes up."

"He's not waking up," Rebecca whispered because she couldn't make herself speak any louder. Her throat felt too swollen to say much of anything, really.

"Yes, he will. He'll have to make a choice. Katherine fed him her blood. He -"

"Died with it in his system." So Rebecca hadn't changed that? She wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

"He'll have to decide whether he wants to complete the change or . . ."

"Or?"

"Die," Emily said, somewhat sympathetic.

Rebecca shook her head, already feeling too much pressure in her chest. "If he sees me, it will impact his decision."

"Of course it will. He'll remember she compelled him and he'll remember how much he loves you."

"But . . . I can't be here for him. I don't know when I'll be sent back."

"I will help you explain it to him. You can show him something from the future. Make him believe you."

"Do you _want_ him to turn?" Rebecca asked suspiciously.

"No. I think it's a curse. But Damon needs to know all of his options. He needs to know that you are one of them."

"But I'm not one! I can't stay here and it's not fair for him to have to wait one hundred and . . . forty-five years. So . . . Those are his options? To either die or . . . be alone for 145 years? I can't . . . make him choose between those."

What she'd said was true; it wouldn't be fair. But he didn't deserve to wake up alone either.

"Take me to him?"

Emily grabbed her hand and pulled her up. The two women walked slowly through the woods and Rebecca's heart began racing. Would Damon be the same? Would he feel the same? Would he blame her for not doing more to save Katherine since he knew she could?

As if Emily could sense her thoughts she said, "The church burned, Katherine was supposed to be inside. She and the others are underneath it."

"What?"

"Not all the vampires that were captured _deserved_ to be killed. There's a tomb underneath the church. All the vampires in the church are now sealed in that tomb."

Rebecca's mind was reeling. If the vampires were locked inside a tomb they wouldn't be able to feed, and if they couldn't feed then . . . They would die anyway, right? They would . . . starve to death. Another horrible way to die. She almost preferred the horrible burning to death scenario; at least that way they would die quickly.

"They will not die. Their bodies will mummify, but they can be revived with blood. A future witch, _Bennett_ witch, can open it. Jonathan Gilbert has my Grimiore and that holds the key to the spell."

These thoughts ran inside Rebecca's head for a while - same thoughts over and over again - until she and Emily came to the bodies of Stefan and Damon. They had been moved into the woods, and now the two women were moving them to a carriage, which had been set up by some guy Rebecca didn't know.

She vaguely wondered if Emmett and Jonas were okay, but she didn't really have time to worry about them if she wanted to get Stefan and Damon out of here before they woke up.

"Stefan can turn too, I take it?"

"Katherine has been compelling him to drink for weeks."

"Damon?"

"No compulsion was necessary. She made him think he loved her; he drank from her willingly."

Of course he had. Damon did whatever he had to for the people he loved. Even if it meant dying for them.

Rebecca hopped into the back of the carriage, as did Emily. She realized that the bullets had been taken out of both brothers, but she didn't ask how; she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"Where're we going?"

"To the quarry outside of town."

Rebecca slowly unbuttoned Damon's shirt even though she really didn't want to see what a mess his chest was sure to be. She even closed her eyes for a second and just felt _for_ _a_ _second._ There were flakes of dried blood coming off on her hands but she couldn't find a wound.

Her eyes snapped open and looked at Damon's bloody but otherwise flawless chest. Not that it wasn't always flawless, but . . . She'd been expecting a gunshot wound.

"Uh . . . Emily?"

"Vampire blood. It has restorative properties. Once the bullet was gone the wound healed on its own."

"Stefan is the same?"

"Yes, Rebecca."

She was relieved because she had no idea how to fix a bullet wound. She stayed by Damon's side the entire way just in case he woke up; she knew _she'd_ freak out if she were in his position. Whatever his decision would be after he woke up, he would need her and she'd stay with him until she was sent back to her time period or until he sent her away.

When they arrived at the quarry, Rebecca dragged Damon to the edge of the water and laid him on the grass. She used his shirt to wipe away the blood from his chest. His skin wasn't as cold as she'd thought it would be, oddly enough, but she was glad. It gave her the illusion that he was still alive even though she knew he wasn't.

When Damon was clean she went about trying to get the blood out of his shirt. The stain was left pink instead of red. Then there was nothing to do but wait. She sat there, Damon's head on her lap, her caressing his face constantly just so he'd feel it when he woke up, thinking about exactly what she was going to do if Damon didn't become a vampire. She wouldn't be able to know him in the future - in her time period - and she'd have to get over the him from the past. She wondered if her convoluted logic made any sense at all.

As she continued caressing Damon she noticed the far away scent of fire and then she let herself fall away. She needed the numbness; it was a relief to not feel anything.

"Rebecca," Emily's voice called her back to earth for the second time that night. "When he wakes up put this on him."

_This_ was his Lapis Lazuli ring she'd seen on him in the future.

"It protects him from the sun."

"I know."

"You know a lot," Emily said.

"Future girl, remember?" Rebecca said, trying to sound light but failing miserably.

"Hm. You need to change, or at the very least take your dress off. The blood on you will drive him crazy. He might not be able to -"

"Control himself. Got it."

So Rebecca was left in her blood-free slip. It was white and thin and it left her cold, but she could handle it. A small groan came from Damon and he had her full attention.

"Damon?" She ran her fingers through his hair. "Damon, can you hear me?"

"Mm . . . Becca?"

"It's me." Even she could hear the relief coating her voice. "I'm here."

"You're alive," he said, sitting up and finding it difficult.

Rebecca laughed and it was an almost hysterical sound.

"Yeah, I'm . . ." she broke off and took a deep breath. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"I was . . . shot?" Question, not a statement, like he wasn't certain. "You were there. Stefan. Katherine. Was she . . .?"

"They took her, Damon."

She saw his shoulders slump and his face crumple in pain. She hated adding salt to the wound, but . . .

"Stefan was shot too. And Damon, I . . . I ran away. Both you and Stefan had . . . Anyway, I didn't want to die."

Damon looked at her and she saw tears in his eyes, threatening to spill over. She wanted to hug him, comfort him somehow, but she wasn't sure if he would welcome it. Then Damon looked at his chest, noticing for the first time that his shirt was missing and that his wound wasn't there. He touched his unmarred skin in wonder.

"I, um . . . washed you off. And your shirt is as clean as it's going to get." She touched his shoulder gently. "Damon, do you know what's happening to you?

"I'm a vampire?" Again with the uncertainty.

"Not . . . Not yet."

Had Katherine not explained this to him? What had she been thinking? Oh, yeah, about _herself_. How could someone do that to someone and not explain how things worked first?

Rebecca handed him the Lapis Lazuli ring. There was a silver S in the middle of the blue stone for Salvatore like the Damon from her time period had told her.

"This will protect you from the sun if you choose to become a vampire. But you do have a choice, Damon." She swallowed against the lump that suddenly formed in her throat. "To complete the transition you have to feed on human blood. If you don't then . . ."

"I'll die?" he asked weakly.

"Yeah." Rebecca felt that familiar tug on her heart and forced herself not to show him how bad she was hurting. "Yeah, you will die."

She embraced him gently and pulled him to her. She was careful because she didn't know how he felt. Was he in any pain? Was he uncomfortable at all?

"I'll stay with you until you pass . . . If that's your choice. You don't have to turn if you don't want to." She began scratching her fingers over his scalp reassuringly. "Look, I don't - I don't know what it is you're going through, but if you're - if you're in any pain or if there's anything that I can do . . ."

Damon blinked a few times before looking down. "The sun hurts my eyes."

Rebecca shifted so his face would be cast in shadow. She kept hold of him and continued caressing him in some way, just for comfort. She didn't know who she was trying to comfort more, him or herself.

"Stefan's here, too. Somewhere." She'd been more preoccupied with Damon - he was her priority. "And Emily. She gave me that ring for you."

"Did you find us?"

"Emily and I did. She found me in the woods, and then we found you."

Suddenly Emily was beside them like she'd known they where talking about her. "Tell him, Rebecca. He needs to know."

"Know what?" Damon asked, lifting his head and looking between the two women. "What's she talking about, Rebecca? What are you not telling me?"

This time it was Rebecca's shoulders that had slumped; she didn't want Damon to know this yet. It might make him do something he'd later regret.

"He knows about magic, Rebecca. It is nothing new to him."

"Magic? Are you a witch too?"

Rebecca almost groaned. Knowing about magic didn't mean he'd believe her about the whole . . . future thing. But Damon now knew she was keeping something from him.

"I'm not a witch. Um . . . You know how I said I didn't know where I came from and you knew somehow that I did, I just didn't want to talk about it? Well, that was true."

"Then where are you from?" he asked, full attention on her.

"I'm from Mystic Falls, Damon. Only I'm from the year 2009"

Damon didn't say anything, much like he hadn't the night he'd found out she was the Slayer - speaking of, there was still _a lot_ he didn't know about that; there was a lot _she_ still didn't know.

"Back at your house I have clothes from my time period. Jeans and a T-shirt; women wear them all the time where I come from - or _when_ I come from. I have a cell phone, which is a communications device from my time period. It's kind of funny, but in 1876 a man is going to invent something called a telephone. If you become a vampire, you'll see I'm telling the truth. Uh . . . Emily thought I should tell you because . . . Because you deserve to know that . . . that I can't stay here."

Before Damon could feel betrayed or like she was abandoning him she said, "I don't know when but I will have to go back. Whenever the spell runs its course I have to go back. I won't have a choice."

She cupped his face in her hands.

"One day I won't be here and if you choose to turn you need to know that I'm not abandoning you. I wouldn't do that. But I'll be waiting in my time period for you, if that's what you want."

"Why are you telling me this now?"

"Damon," Emily said softly. "Katherine has been compelling you. Your love for her wasn't real. You will remember how you felt about Rebecca. But if you really want to be with her, it will have to be in her time period because she won't be allowed to stay here. It is against the laws of nature that she's here at all."

Damon put his head in his hands like he was getting a migraine all of a sudden. Information overload, maybe.

"I didn't want you to know because I didn't want you to base your decision on that. I want you to do what you want to do because you want to do it. It shouldn't have anything to do with me since I won't be here with you."

Nothing was said about the subject for a while and then Stefan finally awoke. All Rebecca could think was that the Salvatore brothers were taking all of this way too well. They were going to die; did they not understand that? Yet they were calmly discussing it like they would the weather.

* * *

By the time night fell again Damon had begun to remember how Katherine had made him think he had loved her and how he'd treated Rebecca because of it. He'd also decided not to turn because he didn't want to live without her and he knew he'd have to if what she'd said was true. Rebecca had no reason to lie, not now, so he believed her.

He resented the fact that Katherine had cut his time with Rebecca short, and he felt stupid and used. He remembered now that every time he'd been around Katherine he'd felt he'd had to do whatever it was she wanted even when he didn't understand why.

Stefan had gone to say good-bye to Giuseppe, which Damon had seen Rebecca roll her eyes at. Giuseppe didn't care about them. He probably didn't even notice they were gone.

And God, Damon felt awful. His whole body was aching and his mouth hurt. His gums were throbbing and his teeth were sensitive. It was his body's way of pushing him to feed. He was so hungry and he knew he shouldn't be so close to Rebecca right now, but he had yet to feel the urgent need to attack her, so he was fairly certain she was safe.

"If you knew Katherine was compelling me, why didn't you kill her?"

"Because," Rebecca said, touching his cheek, "it would've hurt you. And because you wouldn't have remembered it was compulsion. You would've remembered it being real, and you would've hated me forever."

He turned his head away, not because her words affected him so much, but more because her blood was getting to him. He could hear the blood flowing through her veins and it was making him feel edgy . . . er. Edgier.

"All that time I was hurting you and you didn't leave," he said, a little awed.

"Well, it wasn't you. She made you, I don't blame you. I told her to leave you alone and it just made her mess with you even more."

Things were silent then and she sighed. Damon wondered if she blamed herself for how things turned out. She shouldn't; she'd warned him what Katherine was doing, he just hadn't been able to listen.

"Tell me something about the future," he requested. Since he was just going to die anyway it couldn't hurt to know.

She looked at him and he could tell she was unhappy because her emerald eyes had lost their sparkle, their shine.

"Women have more power there. They don't have to watch what they do, what they say. That's the world I grew up in; that's why I am the way I am. Colored people are free, and it's no big deal if white people and black people are friends in my time period. It's completely normal there." She bit her lip and his eyes were drawn there. "And I'm gonna miss you."

The raw pain in her voice made his breathing hitch and his unbeating heart ache. He would've pulled her into his arms to comfort her but he didn't think it was safe for her.

* * *

Damon had been getting weaker and weaker, and Rebecca was just watching for the time to come when he'd pass and she'd hopefully get to leave this place. She didn't want to be here without him.

Rebecca felt her slayer sense kick in and she stood up and looked around. Emily had left hours ago so she was on her own.

"I'll be right back," she told Damon. _Please don't die until I get back to you_, she added silently.

She picked up a random piece of wood - a sturdy piece, of course - and followed where her senses were taking her. She noticed she didn't have that weird being-watched vibe anymore; it was just an _off_ feeling and it could lead her when she let it.

She ended up in the woods - the dark, scary woods - and she stopped and just listened. She felt as if she was being watched _now_ and it was unnerving.

"Rebecca? It's Stefan. Everything's going to be alright."

Then someone - was if really Stefan? - grabbed her and yanked her neck to the side. It all happened so fast she didn't even have time to scream. A hand was placed over her mouth anyway and a sharp pain then emanated from her neck; it felt like she was being stabbed. Then her blood was flowing freely into the vampire's mouth.

He had one arm wrapped around her middle to keep her from struggling, though she was losing blood so fast she'd kind of gone limp right from the beginning. She couldn't move, she could barely stay awake, and then he was picking her up in his arms and no longer drinking from her.

God, she wasn't dead yet, but she was going to be.

* * *

Damon was content with dying. Rebecca would miss him, but she'd go back to her time period and she would find someone else. Someone better. She loved him enough to respect his wish of not accepting immortality. If she could stay with him . . . Maybe he'd have turned. Maybe. But she'd made it clear she couldn't; she'd been honest. Completely honest.

"Damon?" Stefan's voice called from behind him.

Damon still hadn't forgiven his brother because the truth of the matter was . . . Whether the affair with Katherine had been real or not, Stefan had still betrayed him. Stefan had still broken his trust.

But Damon turned to him anyway. Rebecca was in Stefan's arms, bleeding, and Damon _knew_ what had happened.

"You fed. On her."

_On my Rebecca_, he thought possessively. Then he checked himself because Rebecca didn't belong to anyone, least of all him.

"Is she . . ." He was going to say 'dead' but then she moved. She looked at him with her emerald eyes that he loved so much. They were only half-open, like she was fighting off sleep, only he was sure she was fighting off something much more permanent: Death.

"What have you done?" Damon felt a slow rage building inside him. "Give her to me."

Why was Stefan all the time taking things from him? Damon had been there for Stefan through everything and now he was taking the one thing that still meant something to him.

"You need to drink, Damon," Stefan pressed.

Oh, that was what he wanted?

"No," Damon said, shaking his head. "I won't do it." Not to Rebecca, he wouldn't.

He said the words, but hunger had started a fire in his stomach. Just from looking at the red liquid on Rebecca's neck, his throat was crying out with thirst.

"It's easy," Stefan said. "Don't fight it."

Damon was, for once, weaker than Stefan, but when he saw Stefan going for Rebecca's neck Damon sprung into action. Rebecca was defenseless and Damon wasn't going to let her die. Not like this. He pulled her from Stefan's arms, but in the process it got him closer to her blood; the blood he could almost taste for wanting it so badly. He wanted so much to push her away, but he couldn't, and he felt Stefan pushing his head down to her neck.

Damon fought, he _did_, with everything he had, but Damon wasn't strong enough. And the _second_ his lips touched Rebecca's neck he knew it was over. He couldn't fight anymore.

His first few sips were tentative - there was still that small human part that told him blood was not food and couldn't taste good - until he tasted how sweet the blood was. It was like he'd been starving and dying of thirst and Rebecca was his oasis. The liquid did amazing things to his body; he felt powerful, like he could do anything.

He drank more greedily and he felt his canines elongate. If he hadn't been so preoccupied with nourishing himself, he might have acknowledged the pain. The only thing that broke through his frenzy was the soft little cry Rebecca made coupled with the sound of her heartbeat slowing down - it was dangerously slow. Her voice filled his head; something she'd said about a month ago: _A vampire doesn't have to kill when they feed_.

But he wanted to; he didn't want to stop drinking.

He tore himself away from her and stared in horror. Rebecca was barely breathing and her eyes were closed. She was white as a ghost. Damon bit his own lip to keep from lowering his head back down to finish the job Stefan had started.

"Are you happy _now_, Stefan?" Damon seethed.

Damon hoped he wasn't damning himself as well as Rebecca, but he bit into his wrist and when the blood flowed he put it to her mouth and hoped enough would get into her system to help her. Sure enough, the wound on her neck closed and he breathed a sigh of relief. Now, he had to wait to see what would happen. At least she wasn't bleeding out anymore.

He then turned to Stefan, his face an emotionless mask.

"Well, you got what you wanted. You and me. Together for eternity. But hear this, brother. I will make it an eternity of misery for _you_."

He'd almost killed Rebecca because of his _dear_ brother. And now . . . Now Damon felt this irrational need to make Stefan miserable. Actually, Damon felt like he was going to explode. Everything he'd felt before was nothing compared to what he felt now. Everything was magnified.

Rebecca interrupted his thoughts when she began moaning on the ground and all his attention went to her. His love for her had grown so much that it almost hurt; a different kind of hurt than had formed from Stefan's betrayal - on both counts - and different than the hurt that had come from being used by Katherine. This was a good hurt.

Each emotion, each feeling led straight back to him being thirsty. Damon knelt by her side and helped her sit up when she tried to. He held his breath so as not to be too tempted by the scent of her blood.

Rebecca grabbed her head as if it were hurting or as if she were dizzy.

"Damon?" Her voice was weak; if he weren't a vampire he probably wouldn't have heard it. He started when she touched his face and wiped the blood from his chin. "What happened?"

"You . . . don't remember?"

"I was in the woods. Stefan -" she glared in his direction "- snuck up on me and then there was pain. I sort of blacked out after that. Did he hurt you?"

She was concerned for him after what he'd done? He was loathe to tell her it was partly his fault for the state she was in.

"He brought you to me. You were bleeding and I . . . I'm sorry."

Her hand flew to her neck and she made the connection. He saw regret - surprisingly no fear - and sorrow, and then she was wrapping her arms around him, apologizing for . . . amusingly enough, bleeding. He found that if he didn't breathe in her scent he could control himself with ease.

Damon let out a soft chuckle at her mumbling. She'd known he hadn't wanted to turn, she was sorry Stefan had brought her to him, sorry he'd been forced to drink. Sorry it had been from her because now she'd always know it was partly her fault that he'd been tempted too strongly.

What was she going on about? It wasn't _her_ fault his brother had attacked her. And it wasn't her fault that it was in his nature to want to feed from her now; her blood would nourish his body. It was an urge he knew he'd need to learn to control or else it would be a weakness like his brother's apparent bloodlust.

Speaking of blood . . . "Rebecca, you need to be careful. I fed you my blood to heal you. I don't know how long it will stay in your system."

He'd have to keep Stefan away from her; he knew that Stefan would kill her without blinking. He wanted to make sure that didn't happen - Rebecca would not have to make the same choice he had.

* * *

Okay, so . . . yeah, this is what I came up with. How is all this going to affect Rebecca? Anyway, in Stefan's Diaries it says Damon didn't want to be a killer at first, he didn't want to be a monster, he'd only decided to become a vampire because he wanted to be with Katherine - he wouldn't have chosen that otherwise, so that's how I wrote it.

As always, let me know what you guys think.


	12. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Rebecca was weak; she'd nearly been killed - friggin' Stefan. Their friendship was out the window. She found she couldn't even walk on her own and it was embarrassing. She couldn't stand up or do much of anything else since both Damon and Stefan had fed from her. Her blood was obviously low in her system.

She, Stefan and Damon had moved back into the Salvatore house. She'd warned them about Veritas and how the townspeople would probably be hunting them now. They couldn't be seen by anybody. Stefan didn't seem to care one way or the other; Damon said they'd be careful, but they needed a place to stay. _She_ needed a place to stay and food and a way to stay warm. Stefan and Damon couldn't get sick anymore, but she still could.

Damon had been the one to point that out. His . . . heightened emotions made him obsessively protective of her. It was okay since she had no way of protecting herself now, and she didn't mind his company anyway.

When she'd said they couldn't get in without being invited into the house Stefan decided to tell them that Giuseppe was no longer alive. No invite was necessary.

Damon had destroyed the town's vervain supply only because he or Stefan might have to compel people not to mention them or to stay away from Veritas. There had been a fire in the parlor of the mansion and Rebecca didn't know exactly what had happened, but she could tell people had been burned there. It wasn't so much that there was physical evidence as much as it was the stench from the flesh that had been burnt.

Stefan had been feeding from the servants and neither Damon nor Rebecca was able to control Stefan. Tabitha had been the first to go. She'd done it to save her sons. Rebecca had told Emmett and Jonas to run after that. She didn't know how far they'd gotten.

Damon never left her alone with his brother; he said it was because he no longer trusted Stefan to leave her alive. Rebecca knew she couldn't do anything about it now, but she'd kept count of how many times Stefan had fed - on average he needed at least two full bodies of blood a day. And he didn't just _feed_; he killed and relished in it, then Damon would have to clean up Stefan's mess.

She wondered how the Stefan from her time period had been able to say anything bad about Damon when he was like this. Rebecca had been sure Damon had been the one to attack Vicki, but now she wasn't so sure. Stefan had been there both times too. It wasn't just Damon.

Speaking of Damon, he didn't seem to want to feed at all even though the damage had already been done. And he _needed_ to feed to keep his strength up, and so he wouldn't starve. Starving couldn't _feel_ good.

Rebecca noticed he also had trouble with his emotions. No, he hadn't started spouting out poetry to her or anything like that, but his love for her had intensified. Everything else, too, had become more intense. She wasn't sure what that meant for him, she just knew it was hard for him and she wanted to help him make that adjustment.

She'd taken to staying in Damon's room since Stefan was uncontrollable. Damon seemed calmer when she was around, though she noticed that when he was feeling something intensely it made his face change. Red eyes, veins protruding under them, fangs. His vampire face.

It was because everything was still so new to him. He'd learn how to control it someday. She'd kissed him once and he'd lost control and had had to pull away. But at least he _could_; he had the restraint to do that, with her at least. She'd wanted to cry when he'd thought he'd needed to hide his face from her in those loss-of-control moments. He was . . . ashamed of being a vampire?

Her mind flashed back to future Damon hiding his face from her once and she wondered if he - calm, cool, and collected Damon - had done that because he'd lost control for a split second. She also wondered if she was lucky to still be alive. But if he _had_ lost control it had been because she'd moved him, touched him in some way.

But back to the present time in the past: Damon had turned his face away so he could hide it from her. She'd been gentle and reassuring of the fact that she didn't care that he was a vampire.

"It doesn't have to change who you are, Damon."

She caressed his face until his canines went back to their normal length and his red eyes changed back into the beautiful blue that she could easily get lost in.

"You shouldn't have to see me when I'm like that," he said softly, grabbing her hand.

_Oh, my sweet Damon_, Rebecca thought, but she didn't comment on what he'd said. She just decided to take his mind off of it. New vampires seemed to be easily distracted.

"Damon?" Every time she said his name he sort of snapped to attention and almost every ounce of his focus went to her. "I need you to do something for me."

"Anything." So simply said and the response had been pretty much automatic. It was a little scary, but good to know that she wasn't the only one who was powerless in this relationship.

"You know how I said I don't know how long I'm going to be here?"

He nodded and grimaced at the same time.

"Okay, well, your father kept a journal and so do the other council members. Giuseppe mentioned me and the others may have, too. When the time comes and I'm not here anymore, I need you to get rid of any evidence that I was here, okay? I don't think anyone from my time period would make the connection with just a name, but if they did it would not go well for me."

Damon smoothed her hair back from her face and smiled softly - his first smile since he'd been turned. "Consider it done."

"Thank you." Then she bit her lip and looked away, already feeling guilty for what she was about to ask. "If I asked you to, in a few days, feed from me again, would you?"

He was already shaking his head. "I could kill you."

_True enough_, Rebecca thought. And then it hit her that something was seriously wrong with her because she was willing to risk her own neck to keep him fed.

"Well . . . Feed from an animal. Pearl said some vampires do that to keep from feeding on people. Human blood keeps you at full strength, but animal blood will work if you're that against drinking from a human. But the truth is the longer you put off feeding, the bigger the risk you have of killing someone because when you finally do get it you're not gonna be able to stop. Plus, if you continue not to feed, you'll get weaker and seeing as to how _I'm_ not in the best shape I can't take on Stefan if he attacks me again."

She knew that was mean and manipulative of her to use that against him, but it was all she had.

"That last part is not fair." Damon almost pouted and she had to hide a grin.

"No, none of this is fair, but it's true." She put one hand on either side of his face. "I don't want you to lose control like Stefan. Stefan isn't even a vampire; he's a vicious, violent animal."

"About that," Damon said. "Why can he not control it?"

"Well, I'm not an expert but . . . I think it's because Stefan had this nice, structured life that his dad built for him. I can't be sure because I've never been around new vampires, but I think it's because he never did what he wanted so now he's having a bout of teenage rebellion or something. He's had a taste of freedom and power and it's going to his head. And . . . He's shut his humanity out; he doesn't care anymore."

* * *

Once Rebecca was strong enough to move around on her own Damon let her help him feed. He'd thought of what she'd said and decided he didn't want to become like Stefan either. Stefan was careless and clumsy. He'd left a trail of bodies all over Mystic Falls; it was a miracle Stefan hadn't been captured and killed.

Damon wouldn't become that. He could be a vampire without becoming a monster or a killer - he just had to learn how. He could be careful and not kill his food source. Speaking of food, he was delighted to find he could still eat human food - Rebecca had taught him that. Actually, he found his body worked normally as long as he fed properly. His heart even beat when he was healthily fed. It was strange to him because dead people didn't need beating hearts. Or they shouldn't, he didn't think.

It had been seven days now since Rebecca had been bitten, since Stefan had attacked her and since Damon himself had drank from her. He'd taken her advice and had fed from a few animals - it wasn't ideal; in face it was downright disgusting, but it kept him from killing people - but now she was going to let him drink again from her. Her scent alone was intoxicating so he knew the taste would be hard to resist. _But_ he'd done it before; he could - would - do it again. He knew that if he lost control just _once_ he could kill her. He was, after all, supposed to be a hunter now, a predator.

Damon kissed her first, an apology in advance for the pain he knew he was about to cause her.

"You won't hurt me," she said with more confidence than he thought he deserved because he _could_ hurt her and that was the problem.

Damon laid her on his bed in case she fainted again like she'd done the time before. They shared a room and a bed now - in the sense of _sharing_; it was strictly for protection purposes.

He knew from experience with Katherine that being bitten didn't have to be completely painful, but he didn't yet have the experience or the control to make it pleasurable for Rebecca and he was sorry for that since she was so willing to help him.

Only when Rebecca was completely relaxed did he travel down to her neck and let his canines elongate. He grazed her skin a few times and almost smiled when she shivered. He could tell it was in anticipation and not fear; he would've been able to smell the fear.

He used just the tips of his sharp teeth and made two small puncture wounds. He was experimenting; he needed to know what hurt her and what didn't. He assumed he wasn't causing her pain when she buried her fingers in his hair and pulled him closer. Then he was biting down harder and controlling how fast the blood flowed.

Rebecca's blood tasted sweet, like she was, and strong, also like she was. There was something else, something not . . . normal. Her slayer thing maybe? It made the blood more powerful, which in turn made him more powerful. He could also _taste_ how much she loved him, if that made any sense at all.

Damon had to keep reminding himself to be careful because it was Rebecca he was drinking from. He knew that if it was any other human he wouldn't be able to control himself. But since it was _Rebecca_ he pulled away when her breathing turned just the tiniest bit shallow and went about making sure her neck healed properly. He gave her the least amount of his blood she would need to heal and then he just held her until she went to sleep.

He wished she could stay with him. Partly because he loved her and partly because he hated the thought of facing the next 145 alone. He would survive, though, if only to get to be with her again.

With those thoughts in his head he went to sleep.

* * *

When Damon woke up he was alone, but he could hear Rebecca downstairs. He also heard music, a piano it sounded like.

He got up, stretched, and followed the music to the ballroom of Veritas. He knocked before entering. Rebecca was playing the piano on the stand where the band would be if they were holding a dance. The music wasn't familiar, but he figured it was because it was a song from her time period.

Her green eyes connected with his blue ones and her fingers froze over the keys.

"Don't let me interrupt," he said, smiling and going to sit beside her on the bench for the instrument. "Continue."

Rebecca's face flushed - it was even more attractive now - and her heart sped up.

"I haven't played in front of anybody in a long time."

"Define long time," he said.

"Going on four years?" She began playing anyway. "This is not my song, by the way."

Damon nodded and let the music wash over him. He was happy she was finally sharing this with him even if the music was extremely loud to his newly sensitive ears.

This new song Damon did recognize - Mozart. The words weren't familiar, but the music was.

_There was always the voice of an angel  
In the sweet lullaby of my dreams  
Who would sing me a song made in Heaven  
That awakened the music in me  
You gave my life such meaning  
Shined light upon my soul  
And you were always there to hold_

_When I come to the end of tomorrows  
And I look back on all of my days  
I imagine I'll be there beside you  
And we'll talk in our usual way  
And we will dance, we will sing  
Still amazed by everything_

_And we will dance and we will sing  
We're still amazed by everything  
The simple joys that like can bring  
The songs you taught me how to sing  
And, yes, we will sing them again  
In my heart they'll never end_

Rebecca's voice had control in it and Damon could tell she had had lessons before. The way she was singing made him wonder about her even more, though, because she acted like she was part of the music, like she was living the music. Her voice was soothing to him.

_When I'm lost I pray that I can find you  
When the darkness seems to hide the light  
When I'm up I know I'm flying with you  
All the things I love are all because of you  
Because of you_

_You were always the one with the courage  
Taught me all that I needed to know  
When I needed a shoulder to cry on  
You would reach out a hand I could hold  
Your strength and all your kindness  
Became a part of me and I will always try to be  
I'll be the me you hoped I'd always be_

_We will dance, we will sing  
Still amazed by everything_

_And we will dance and we will sing  
We're still amazed by everything  
The simple joys that life can bring  
The songs you taught me how to sing  
And, yes, we will sing them again  
In my heart they'll never end_

_In your eyes I always see my future  
In your smile I see the reason for my ways  
In your voice I know the truth has meaning  
When you sing to me I hear your heart speak to me_

_There was always the voice of an angel  
In the sweet lullaby of my dreams  
Who would sing me a song made in Heaven  
That awakened the music in me  
The music in me_

* * *

When the song was over Rebecca looked down shyly. Damon had been quiet during her . . . performance, and she really couldn't tell anything from his expression except that he was peaceful now.

She loved that she could give him that. She didn't know what he was going to do when she had to leave. She hoped he didn't go too crazy, that he didn't do any damage to himself that she couldn't help him fix later.

"So . . . Music from the future, not what you expected?"

"The music is fine. You probably picked that one on purpose. It was an interesting song choice. You . . . seem to connect to it."

She shrugged. "No reason why. I just . . . really love music."

"You are very talented, Miss Rebecca." Laughter danced in his eyes.

"Thank you, my sweet Damon," she'd said it lightly and smiled when a healthy flush filled his cheeks. She caressed his heated skin briefly before turning back to the piano just to press the keys randomly. She was giving him time to recompose his face if he wanted.

Just then Stefan stepped into the ballroom with three girls that were around Rebecca's age. She groaned inwardly. Stefan was going to get them all in trouble.

"What are they doing here?" Damon asked, his peacefulness suddenly gone. "Leave them alone, Stefan."

Stefan was killing the townspeople - revenge maybe? - but regardless of the cause he was still evil and needed to be stopped. He was compelling these girls to not be afraid at least. But they would still end up dead. And why was it so hard for Stefan to be good? Damon had been the wild one, so why was it not the other way around? Not that Rebecca _wanted_ Damon to go on an irrational, uncontrollable killing spree, but . . . It was still a valid question.

Damon was still Damon; Stefan was a completely different person. If the word person could be used to describe Stefan when he was more animal now than human. Whereas Damon had kept his humanity fully intact.

Rebecca . . . She loved Damon so much it made it hard to breathe. Sometimes it was even hard to think around him. He sometimes made her head foggy just by being in the same room with her. Like now. Here she was thinking of Damon when she _should_ be focusing on the fact that Stefan was killing people.

Right. Stefan . . .

"Have you been going into town?" she asked. "That's dangerous, Stefan. They will find you."

"I'm dangerous," Stefan declared almost proudly.

"You don't have to be. And anyway you're not the kind of danger I'm talking about. The townspeople have a way of finding vampires. A compass. Someone was working on it. Seeing as to how most of the vampires have been captured . . . I think it's safe to say the compass works."

"A compass?" Damon asked.

"Yeah. Yes. It points at vampires instead of pointing north. I didn't think he could pull it off, but I was wrong."

Rebecca didn't want to name names, not around Stefan. He'd go and kill whoever it was she was talking about just out of spite.

Damon grabbed Rebecca's shoulders and began leading her away and she let him. She'd do whatever to make him feel better. Only, on the way out Stefan grabbed her by the hips and jerked her against him. She let out a gasp of surprise.

"I want a turn," he said, moving Rebecca's hair from her neck.

Damon's cheek twitched with irritation. "Well, too bad for you because I'm not sharing. Now give her back to me before you do something I'll make you regret."

"I'm not afraid of you."

Rebecca thought Stefan sounded like a petulant child.

"Oh, you should be, dear brother," Damon said. "You should be."

Rebecca stood as still as she could be while Stefan had her; she knew that if she fought right now while she was in Stefan's arms that the predator in him would make him attack her faster and more brutally.

"There will be other Rebecca's, Damon. Let me have her."

Rebecca noticed that Damon's eyes were getting angrier and angrier; if Stefan wasn't careful he would have a very pissed off Damon on his hands.

Damon looked at Rebecca and, as if they were on the same wavelength, she nodded her head at him. In all of about two seconds Damon had Stefan pinned to the ground; Rebecca had known exactly when and how to move so Damon wouldn't have any chances to hurt her.

Was that because they had exchanged blood the night before? Or were they just made for each other? Either way, the result was the same. Rebecca didn't get eaten and neither did the three girls Stefan had brought home; Rebecca escorted them out while Damon beat the tar out of Stefan.

It seemed like Rule #1 with Damon was to not threaten anyone he cared about. And apparently Rebecca took priority over Stefan at the moment.

Rebecca went outside to sit on the porch even though it was cold. Well, cool - November in Virginia wasn't always frosty. Actually it was mild compared to other places. She kept the three girls with her; she had to wait for Damon so he could compel them to forget they were ever here.

She felt rather than saw or heard as Damon came out the door. He did what she'd been thinking without having to be told, and then he sat beside her and she leaned against him.

"We need to either stop him or help him, Damon. If he keeps going into town he's going to get all of us killed. They'll track him back here to you and to me."

"Well, then maybe we should leave," Damon suggested.

"Um . . ." Rebecca grimaced. "I don't know if I can. I might wake up in another state or something when I go back."

"So I'll come get you," Damon teased softly.

Rebecca giggled and shook her head. "Yeah, you would."

Unless she was totally messing up his future and he didn't even live to see her in the future. She didn't want to even entertain that thought.

"I love you, Damon." She made it a point to tell him that because she wasn't sure when she'd have to leave.

She noticed he was breathing heavily so she gave him a few seconds to regain control before looking at him. Apparently it wasn't only _his_ emotions he had problems with.

"It's okay if you can't say it back yet. I just needed you to know how I felt . . . so there'd be no room for doubt later."

A genuine smile pulled at his lips and said, "You have no idea how happy that makes me, Miss Rebecca."

"Well, you know me. I aim to please. Sometimes." She wanted _him_ to be happy at least. He needed some happiness.

* * *

The next night, Rebecca, Damon and Stefan went into town, only they stayed away from the densely populated areas and the areas where they would be recognized.

Damon and Rebecca had agreed without actually speaking that they would try to help Stefan so they could help themselves. Damon didn't want to put Rebecca in more danger than he already had, so if teaching Stefan some control was what he had to do he would do it.

They were at a seedy tavern where most of the customer's were drunkards so they wouldn't remember them in the morning anyway. Damon, Stefan, and Rebecca sat at a table. Or they had been; Stefan was now talking with three women who either hadn't heard of the Salvatore brothers or didn't know what they looked like. Both Rebecca and Damon were watching him, making sure he didn't cause any lasting damage.

"Can you multi-task?" Rebecca asked. "Listen to me and him at the same time?"

"Yes." He smiled softly. "Though I'd much rather just listen to you."

Rebecca's eyes sparkled at his flirting and she glanced at the table before looking back up at him. She always did that whenever he became . . . extra-charming, looked away before looking back.

Suddenly Damon tightened his jaw. He was around so many people and he hadn't fed for almost two days. He knew it was only because Rebecca was there. He didn't want her to think he was a monster so therefore he couldn't act like one, not like Stefan. Even if every instinct he had told him to feed, to quench the thirst he had. Just one person, what would it hurt? But he also knew that _one_ would lead to _one more_ and then another. It would never stop.

Then Rebecca would hate him, but then again . . . he would hate himself, so why would she be any different?

Damon lowered his head as he felt the skin under his eyes tighten and his gums ache when his canines elongated. Did that _ever_ go away? He covered his face and tried to massage the ache away.

"Breathe through it," Rebecca whispered. "You're better than Stefan."

_Better than Stefan_, Damon thought. Rebecca was the first person to say that to him and it gave him a warm, tingly feeling in the pit of his stomach. He didn't hate it.

"You don't have to kill to feed, Damon. You're stronger than him. You know how to do it without killing. You've done it before."

"Only with you." And that was the problem; he didn't know if he could control himself with other people. He didn't really care about anybody else.

"Yes, but you know the signs to look for. Shallow breathing, slow heartbeat, uh . . . Paleness?" She seemed unsure of the last one.

"Yes, paleness." He watched as Stefan took one of the women he'd been talking to toward the door of the tavern. "Don't kill her, Stefan," he said, knowing full well his brother could hear him and probably wouldn't listen.

"Okay, um . . . Find somebody," Rebecca said. "Find somebody here."

"Why here?"

"Look around," she instructed, placing a gentle hand on his knee. Her touch startled him at first since he hadn't seen it coming, but he relaxed fast enough. "The people here, what do you see?"

"Um . . . A lot of people who probably don't have anyone to go home to."

"Right. Now, you still need to be careful, but . . . If you're going to feed - especially now when you might slip - it should be on people that nobody will miss. Homeless people, um . . . Prostitutes . . . People like that."

Damon watched as she grimaced and he automatically knew it was because she couldn't believe she was having this conversation.

"I'm not saying it's okay to kill them because they're homeless, but it's the best way to be careful. No one can report you missing if no one knows you existed in the first place."

"It's still . . . wrong," Damon muttered and she smiled.

"Yes, it is." She caressed his cheek. "I'm very glad you know that. It means you're still you."

* * *

Rebecca hated telling Damon that if he slipped up she would understand, because she didn't _want_ him to slip up. He was doing so well with the control thing, so much better than Stefan. What was wrong with the younger Salvatore anyway? Couldn't he see what a monster he was becoming? Or did he just not care?

But she would understand and she'd be there for Damon just the same. Well, as long as she was allowed to be here anyway.

"I think we should see what your brother is up to," she said. "Even if no on will miss the girl he's with she shouldn't have to die on purpose."

"Agreed."

Once outside, Rebecca used her slayer radar to track Stefan; he hadn't gone that far. He and the woman were in an alley near the tavern and he was tearing into her neck. Jeeze, didn't he have any manners at all?

"That's enough, Stefan," Damon said.

Well, Damon could talk all he wanted; Rebecca could clearly see that it wasn't working. So she broke a wooden crate that was in the alley and picked up a sharp piece and jammed it into Stefan's side. She wasn't going to kill him - that would affect the future too much and Stefan was Damon's brother . . . She couldn't do that to him unless she had permission from him.

Stefan's head arched back and he growled in pain. He'd turned around, snarling and dropping the girl to the ground. His hands went straight to the wood and he yanked it out.

Damon, whose eyes were wide like he hadn't expected her to react so violently, stepped in front of her to shield her in case Stefan retaliated.

"You're a meddlesome girl," Stefan said, tossing the wood away. "Now I need a new shirt."

Rebecca blinked a few times. She'd _stabbed_ him and he was thinking of a new shirt? And someone was bleeding because of him . . . and he was worried about his clothes. She went around the two brothers to the bleeding woman. Her skin held almost no color and her neck was bleeding profusely.

"Stefan," Rebecca said softly yet with an edge. "Come here."

Stefan looked at her - or _glared murderously_ at her; Damon looked at her curiously and maybe a little cautiously. He'd never seen her react like that; he probably hadn't even known she could.

"What for?" Stefan asked.

"You did this," Rebecca said. "This is your mess, you _will_ clean it up. Now come here."

"She's just a human. One human among millions. Who cares if -"

"I care," Rebecca interrupted. "Now bite your wrist and put it to her lips. Let her drink. It will heal her; it will _save_ her.

Stefan agreed reluctantly and knelt beside her; Rebecca tensed immediately - bloodthirsty animal and all that - and Damon moved closer. She watched carefully as Stefan fed the woman his blood. Her neck healed slowly because of how badly she'd been attacked. But eventually the woman woke up.

"Now compel her to forget we were ever here." She nudged Stefan with her shoulder and watched him make eye contact with the girl/woman. "You need to learn how to stop feeding before the person you feed from dies. Control isn't just not attacking people. You can do better; you don't _have_ to be this way."

"I am a _vampire_."

"Vampire doesn't lead straight to monster, or killer, for that matter." She shut up long enough for Stefan to erase the memory of the woman being attacked. "Now we are going to find her a nice, safe place for her to sleep for the night."

"I'm not a child, Rebecca," Stefan seethed.

"Funny, she had to punish you like one." Damon seemed almost amused because of Rebecca's lesson-teaching. Then he looked at her, amusement still there, but less so than before. "Remind me not to make you angry."

She couldn't help the open grin that stretched across her face. Future Damon never would've said something like that. _Remind me to never make you angry_.

But most of the time the only thing a hard-headed person needed was to be taught that everyone else wasn't going to take their crap anymore. She'd obviously showed Stefan that. Hopefully, he got the message.

Rebecca went back inside the tavern to make sure nobody had seen anything or was saying anything. Nobody seemed suspicious of her and nobody was talking about anything that was amiss, so everything was good.

She began walking back to the door when suddenly she was jerked against someone. What was with her and people jerking her around?

"I saw you in here earlier. Where are your friends? Did they leave you alone? That wasn't very nice of them."

Rebecca could tell the man was drunk; the whiskey smell was all over him. And it didn't make his grabbing her right, but she understood that most of the time only loose women came to the bars in this time period.

"They're waiting for me outside. And one of them will _not_ be happy if you don't let me go." Damon was probably listening in as she was speaking. "Now, if you don't mind . . ."

She easily slipped away and made it through the door. She didn't automatically see Stefan or Damon, but she could still sense them so she knew they were close. Besides, Damon would not have left her alone in a neighborhood this sketchy. Rebecca followed her senses to a nearby inn where Damon was compelling the keeper to allow the woman to stay for the night.

When she reached him she touched his arm and smiled when it seemed he relaxed immediately. It was like his body had been tightly coiled, but now that she was there he'd pressed some kind of release button. Rebecca loved being able to do that for him. And she could relate. She felt better when he was around too. She felt even better when Stefan _wasn't_ around. There was just something about him that set her on edge - it couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact that he was killing everyone. He would've killed someone tonight if they hadn't stopped him.

"You ready to go home?" Rebecca asked after the girl had been set up for the night. It was funny how quickly she'd correlated home with Damon. She hoped that future Damon would at least let her be a part of his life - unlife? - because she didn't know if she'd be able to survive not being able to talk to him or be around him.

* * *

They slept in the same bed, as was their routine now. Rebecca, however, wasn't there when Damon woke up the next morning. Rebecca wasn't anywhere.

He made sure Stefan hadn't done anything to her, though he was sure he would've heard Stefan come in their room, so . . .

She was gone like she'd warned him she would be one day. And one day had come too soon.

* * *

Okay, so this is obviously the last chapter of her being back in time. I was going to go farther with it, but . . . I didn't. LOL. I covered the basics, Stefan's bloodlust and Damon's sort of disgust because of it - which is ironic, considering how he turned out. Anyway, as I promised at the beginning, Rebecca being back in time doesn't drastically change Damon - there are, however, going to be minute personality changes, but they're explained and they're not just THERE all of a sudden. It happens gradually because people don't just change over night.

Let me know what you think? And thank you!


	13. Chapter 8 & 9 CP

I forgot to mention in the last chapter that the song is 'Awaken the Music' by Billy Gilman. If you like modern classical music, it's an awesome song.

Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter Eight  
and Nine  
Companion piece

Mystic Falls 2009

Damon was still remembering things that shouldn't have been and that meant that Stefan was too. They hadn't talked about it because that wasn't something they did. Not for a long time.

Not everything had changed from 1864. Katherine had compelled him to believe he'd loved her - it was kind of hard to remember the original story now; it was all mixed up - so he'd still done things for her he would've done if he had _really_ loved her.

The night Katherine had been captured he'd gone to Emily and promised to do anything if she would just protect Katherine somehow. She had. So Damon had made a deal with her and he'd kept watch over her family, had made sure her lineage survived.

He'd used Rebecca's feelings against her; he'd known she would help him no matter what and he'd also known she had advantages he hadn't back then. She'd been stronger than him. And she must've gone against her very nature to help a bunch of vampires - or even just one vampire. He knew how hard it was trying to fight one's nature but he hadn't thought about it back then.

He and Stefan had still been shot, and Rebecca had stayed with him until . . . Well, until he had completely gone away. She'd risked her life so he wouldn't die alone. She'd been there so he wouldn't wake up alone either. And when he _had_ woken up he hadn't remembered the compulsion at first so he'd been devastated about Katherine being captured.

Rebecca had told him about not being able to stay there with him - now that he'd died she was being completely honest. Damon guessed she thought that since he was in transition that he'd believe anything. But he'd believed her. Damon didn't know if Rebecca ever would've said anything at all if Emily hadn't pressed her to. Rebecca had been quite adamant about him not basing his decision on her. She'd known he'd changed _before_, obviously, because she'd met him in her time period but she was being selfless. She didn't want him to have to wait for her.

But she'd promised to be waiting for him. And she wasn't here to be waiting for him.

Damon wondered what would happen when she got back.

* * *

Things had played out the same. Stefan had still forced him to turn and Damon still hated him for it. Damon hated him even more for drinking from Rebecca and for bringing her to him to do the same. Since Rebecca had changed history completely Damon's mindset had also been changed. He couldn't love Katherine anymore knowing that it hadn't been real. What he had had with Rebecca had been real.

And he'd almost killed her because of Stefan. It had been right then that Damon had made the decision to never be weaker than Stefan again. In general he didn't like being weaker than anybody, and the weaknesses he did have weren't out there for everybody to see and exploit.

So Damon hadn't attacked Stefan. He'd wanted to when he'd first remembered what Stefan had done but he really didn't want Stefan to know he cared about Rebecca at all. Because Stefan would use it against him if Rebecca got back.

And when was she coming back anyway? He was waiting. And impatient.

And why was his life always complicated?

* * *

Damon could remember Rebecca asking him to get rid of any evidence that she'd been there when she came back. He would have, he knew, because he'd been that committed to her. Even if he hadn't been, she'd done so much for him he would've considered it returning the favor.

Homicidal vampire or not, he did have a certain sense of honor. It was his own code and it was different for everybody he knew, but still . . . He did believe in paying debts back and such.

She'd played for him and sang. He still wondered if she'd picked that song on purpose - only for a different purpose now. Certain of the lines had described them to a T. One in particular had reminded him of when she'd opened herself up to him only to end up with him holding her and helping her feel better.

One thing she'd done, looking back, kind of but not really made him want to gag. She'd called him _my sweet Damon._

He was not sweet, not anymore. He was mean; he liked it.

He and Rebecca had had a moment - one of many - but Stefan had ruined it, as Stefan usually did. And when Damon remembered what had happened he'd had to force himself not to throw things. It was only because nothing had really happened. If Rebecca had gotten hurt again, someone else would've gotten hurt too.

Rebecca had told him she'd loved him again. She didn't want there to be any room for doubt later; he didn't know what that meant for _him_ but . . . Maybe it was a hint that she really would want to try with him when she got back.

Did he want that? The obvious answer was yes. Since she had totally messed up the past - or fixed it, depending on how one looked at it - he did want her there with him. But . . . The less obvious answer was . . . What if that just opened up so many things he'd been keeping inside forever? To be with Rebecca he'd have to . . . He'd have to . . . He didn't even know. But he couldn't treat her as a snack or a one night stand. She didn't deserve that and she wouldn't put up with it, he didn't think. He was sure she had more self-respect than that.

He'd have to _feel_ and that terrified him in a way that he didn't like. He didn't like been weak or vulnerable for anyone; he didn't like giving people the chance to either throw it back in his face or laugh at him or something else equally as negative.

* * *

Damon found it amusing that a human had tried to teach a vampire how to feed; it was even more amusing that she'd helped a lot. She'd given him great advice about the not killing people that other people would miss.

She was a terrible slayer; she condoned people getting eaten.

She, however, did not condone killing sprees. Damon sort of had a happy when he remembered that Rebecca had stabbed Stefan; he was sure if Rebecca had been able to stay with them Stefan would've learned control eventually and he wouldn't have had to resort to eating fluffy bunny rabbits.

Things would change, Damon was sure. The first time around Katherine had been the one to show him how to feed and it hadn't been pretty. She'd ravaged two people. Not that he hadn't ravaged in his time, but that had been when he'd been angry or completely starving.

But Rebecca had told him of another way, a different way. Where the victim didn't have to die - that was his fault. She'd connected Vicki Donovan with him apparently.

The morning after the tavern incident . . . Rebecca disappeared. Damon had stocked up on bourbon; he knew the memories without her were going to be harder than the ones with her even if he had originally thought she was going to mess everything up.

It didn't matter . . . She was going to come back now. He could . . . Decide what to do now. Or just go at it impulsively like he was known for.

One thing was for sure, he was _not_ going to be the one to track her down. He was going to let her come to him.

* * *

As you can see, Damon is still sort of conflicted. Only now it's less because of Katherine and more because he's wondering if he _really_ wants to open himself up. Because along with the good things comes the bad, and that's not something he wants to feel. Anyway, he's kind of hopeful while still being cautious. LOL


	14. Chapter 10

Okay, Rebecca's back from the past now. LOL. And I know this one is super long, but I really didn't know where to stop, so I just kept going.

Anyway, thanks to those who have reviewed or favorited or put me on their alert list.

Love you guys!

Chapter Ten

"You shouldn't read those out loud. They don't always work, but they can be volatile when they do."

_Whoa, déjà vu_, Rebecca thought. And, wow, she was back in her time period, back in her own world. Without Damon, or without _her_ Damon, anyway. She was . . . back where she started?

Had none of what had happened actually taken place? Had she imagined it all? She remembered saying the spell out loud - and that everything else had happened because of it - but now she was back in Sheila's house with the book in her hands; she quickly dropped it.

Had no time passed at all? She didn't even have the dress she'd been wearing the night before. Or whatever.

"Rebecca, are you alright, dear?"

"Um . . ." She patted the pockets of her jeans. She had her cell phone even though she hadn't had it with her during the time she'd spent in the past; she'd hidden it well.

"Something happened? With the spell you read?"

"I . . . think. But . . . Now I'm back where I started."

"It was a time traveling spell. Time sort of works differently with those."

"Yeah . . . Obviously. I, uh . . ."

Wow, her first instinct was to run to Damon, but then she thought she was _not_ going to seek Damon out. It had been 145 years for him; things could've changed for him. He could have found someone else, so if he wanted to see her he'd have to come to her.

And Rebecca wanted to see Chelsea and Elena and Bonnie and her dad, and God, she hoped she'd be able to hold it together and not freak out because no one would understand what was wrong with her. And she couldn't just _tell_ someone what had happened.

"How did I do that spell?" Rebecca wondered. "I'm not a witch."

"No, but you do have a lot of power, a lot of strength, as the slayer."

"Right. Well, I'm never reading another spell out loud."

Grams smiled knowingly. "Glad you learned your lesson."

Lesson? Not to be careless with magic, yes, but she'd met someone she loved very much and even though she'd missed everyone back here, she'd figured she couldn't have everything. And she knew who she wanted; now it was just a case of whether or not future Damon wanted her. In a nice non-fatal way.

In the back of her mind she hoped Damon was there for her, not just to play with her. She didn't want to be played with.

* * *

Damon Salvatore was in a weird mood, which usually didn't bode well for the humans around him. But there was one major difference in him now: Rebecca Stone. The girl who he'd met in 1864 and had become very attached to; a'right, the girl he'd totally fallen for. She had told him that she'd be waiting so of course he'd tried to be better for her even though she hadn't been with him at the time.

Sure, when she'd disappeared he'd gotten a little dangerous - he'd been angry and _shock, gasp_, scared. He hadn't wanted to be alone. But then he'd realized he needed to be someone Rebecca would deserve, someone she could still love. Rebecca couldn't love a soulless monster, it just wasn't in her.

Yet now that the time had come . . . Part of him didn't want to get close to her again; it would open up too many things he'd closed off a long time ago. The other part of him just wanted her any way he could have her. Wanted her because he remembered how good she'd been with him, how good she'd been _to_ him. Not a lot of people had been that nice to him even before he'd become a vampire and he remembered Rebecca for the simple fact that she had treated him better than anyone else had. Ever.

Damon had still done things he'd prefer she never know about all in the name of surviving so he could get back to her. He'd killed people even though he remembered not wanting to at first. In the beginning he'd sworn he wouldn't, but he had 145 years to account for.

Damon wasn't a _monster_ but he was a vampire. He fed from humans but he didn't kill all of them. He still had a snapping point, though, and that - _that_ - was what got him into trouble.

In Damon's new all-Rebecca-all-the-time world, he'd never killed for the fun of it. He'd only killed when he'd had no other choice. The path of Rebecca wasn't an easy one. He'd killed people and if he left himself, he could feel and see every one of them. The first time he'd realized he'd racked up a body count he'd cried - the guilt hadn't left him and then . . . Then he'd shut his feelings out. It was better than brooding about it all the time.

Speaking of brooding, that was probably what St. Stefan was doing. Oh, yes, he still hated his brother with a fiery passion; that hadn't changed at all. Stefan had betrayed him, fed off the girl he loved, and then forced _him_ to feed from the girl he loved.

He didn't even bother to tell himself not to think about her blood. Every time he'd fed in the last 145 years he'd thought about her blood and how much _better_ it was than everyone else's. He honestly didn't know if that was because he loved her or because she loved him _or_ because she was a slayer. _The_ Slayer. He'd learned over the years that there was only one in the world at any given time, except for a few anomalies.

Damon wasn't sure if Rebecca knew exactly what it was she was capable of. As a slayer . . . She had the same killer instincts as a vampire; he wasn't sure why, he just knew it was true. But, as a human, her conscience kept her from letting those instincts take over. She would be fast and strong; not as fast as him because humans weren't meant to move that fast, but as strong as some of the oldest vampires out there. When she used her strength _right_. She would have to train to be able to center herself. If she'd trained before, Stefan never would've been able to sneak up on her. Not without getting staked in the process.

* * *

Rebecca had never been a yay-school girl, but she had to admit her first day back she felt as giddy as Caroline acted sometimes. She acted drunk, is what Rebecca thought as she walked down the school hallway with Elena and Bonnie.

Elena, beautiful, sweet Elena. Rebecca had missed her _a lot_, mostly because she'd seen Katherine everyday. Katherine, who had looked exactly like Elena. Though now Rebecca could see Elena was prettier. It was all in the eyes. Katherine's eyes had been cold and hard as stone; Elena's eyes were soft and compassionate.

Bonnie; enthusiastic and lively little Bonnie. She was someone Rebecca considered to be a best friend - you can have more than one - and she'd missed the concern Bonnie was able to show people.

Rebecca had given them both a bear hug - seriously, she'd had to remind herself not to squeeze to hard - and they'd _both_ been concerned. Dramatic displays of affection usually weren't her thing, but she'd changed. She knew now that being able to show how much you truly care for someone was a good thing; in a twisted way, Damon had taught her that. The first time she'd let herself cry in front of him she'd learned it was okay to let people in, let them help, let them see.

It was hard that first day. Even though she was happy to be back it was difficult to remember what had happened before she'd left. To her it had been a couple of months; to her friends she'd never really been gone. She'd missed her friends when she'd been in 1864 but she'd been through a lot, so yes, she had problems remembering.

Elena and Stefan drama; she remembered that. Obviously Stefan had learned some control because Elena wasn't dead yet. Rebecca and Caroline had made up from Rebecca snapping at her. Bonnie had freaked about something concerning Stefan - three guesses as to what. Vicki had been playing games with Jeremy. Damon . . . Well, Damon had been playing games with _her_.

Speaking of Damon, future Damon hadn't contacted her yet. Was he even here? Was he still alive? She should've called him to see, but she didn't know if his number was even the same.

Rebecca had checked when she'd gotten home the night before and she'd found that Vicki had still been bitten, but it hadn't been as bad as Rebecca had remembered it to be. Vicki hadn't even had to go to the hospital. It looked like she'd fallen on a barbecue fork, Rebecca thought amusedly. Vicki had the almost _too_ perfect memory of fighting an animal off before it had had the chance to get a good grip with its teeth.

"Look, I'm not saying don't date the guy," Bonnie said, drawing Rebecca out of her thoughts. "I'm just saying take it slow."

"_You_ were the one who said to go for it," Elena said.

"Now I'm saying take it slow. You're single for the first time in your high school career. It's the perfect time for you to play the field."

"Oh, because I'm so that girl," Elena laughed. "Seriously, what are you not saying?"

"It's stupid." The way Bonnie said it sounded like the same 'it's stupid' Bonnie had given her about the _Vampire_ book she'd given Rebecca. "I accidentally touched Stefan . . . And I got a really bad feeling."

"Is that it?" Elena asked, confused.

"It was _bad_-bad."

"Is this the whole witch-mojo thing again?"

Well, whatever it was, Rebecca was paying attention. Bonnie's feelings usually meant something. Something _real_.

"You know what? I'm just concerned. This is me expressing concern about my best friend's new boyfriend."

"He's your boyfriend?" Rebecca asked. "When did that happen? Last time I saw you, you were walking away from him upset. Night of the comet, remember?"

"Right, well -" Elena smiled shyly "- I went to his house that night and we straightened things out. I realized that I was pushing him away because I was scared."

Rebecca almost laughed because Elena had every reason to be scared; she was going out with a vampire and she didn't know it. What if Stefan had been feeding from her and he'd been compelling her to forget? But, no, Elena didn't have any bite marks - though that didn't prove anything; Rebecca didn't have any bite marks and she'd been bitten. But other than that . . . Elena's color was normal and she didn't seem weak at all. Rebecca wouldn't have cared if Stefan was feeding from Elena as long as Elena didn't end up dead because of it. Killing Rebecca's friends was a no-no. Besides, Stefan was a vampire; vampires were supposed to feed from people.

"And I feel _good_," Elena said, smiling widely, openly for the first time in a long time. "It's been a hard year and I'm starting to feel like things are getting back to normal again. And you know what? Stefan is a big part of that."

Rebecca saw Bonnie give in at that moment. Both Bonnie and Rebecca wanted Elena to be happy and if Stefan was what made her happy, then . . .

But . . . "I'm with Bonnie. Be careful, that's all we're saying. Get to know him first."

Speaking of _him_, Rebecca felt Stefan coming up to them from the side. She tensed slightly - reflex - just in case. She relaxed when she saw he seemed to have control of his bloodlust.

"Morning, Elena. Bonnie, Rebecca." His voice seemed normal, but his eyes were guarded; not that that was any different from any other time she'd seen him in this time period.

"Hi," Rebecca said out of politeness. Why should she be polite to him, though?

Bonnie then made a hasty exit and Rebecca wanted to do the same, but she needed to talk to Stefan. She couldn't do it with Elena around, however, so she'd have to wait.

"Um . . . I'm gonna head to class. Bye, guys." Then she took off, ducking her head and saying very low, "Stefan, I need to talk to you after school. Find me or I'll find you."

She knew he'd be able to hear her - vampire hearing and all that. Then she went to English.

The day went by fast. She gave Jeremy a hug when she saw him; that wasn't too weird, they used to hug all the time. Matt didn't mind a hug either. Caroline, though, was surprised. Rebecca had made it clear more than once that, for the most part, she couldn't stand the girl.

But, hey, anybody was better than Katherine. After _her_ Rebecca had come to appreciate Caroline.

During history Rebecca tuned Mr. Tanner out like she normally did. Rebecca almost despised Tanner for liking to humiliate his students and she was given a happy when he would ask someone a question and they actually got it right. When he would ask her something she would either BS her way out of the answer, to which Tanner would roll his eyes, or she would actually get it right and Tanner would look sad. He liked pointing out ignorance; Rebecca didn't know why.

After history, Rebecca walked with Elena and Stefan outside. Elena was going to cheerleading practice; Stefan was trying out for the football team. Rebecca hadn't seen it herself, but apparently Stefan had done an amazing throw with a football earlier in the day. After dropping Elena off with the rest of the cheerleaders Stefan and Rebecca went on to the bleachers near the football field.

"I'm sure you understand why I don't wanna be alone with you," Rebecca said softly. She needed him to know she wasn't mad at him, just a little nervous to be near him. "And we can talk without anyone else hearing here."

"Rebecca, I'm sorry. I know it was 145 year ago, but I'm sorry. Though it was just a few days ago for you, wasn't it?"

Rebecca nodded. She accepted his apology right away because he seemed sincere enough. He'd just been turned, he'd had no control. That wasn't what she wanted to talk to him about, though.

"How much did I change? I looked a few weeks back and the people who had died . . . They're not dead now. So I rewrote history a little."

Stefan looked around and then sighed. She figured it was because he knew he may as well be honest.

"The original memories are fading. Pretty soon I won't be able to remember them at all. But Damon's not as bad as he was the first time around. He's still torturing me, but I know he has a reason for that. He doesn't kill needlessly, but that doesn't mean he's not dangerous. He's rash and impulsive; he can snap in an instant. He chooses to feed from humans; I don't anymore."

"Animal blood," Rebecca muttered. "What, did you take a look in the mirror and not like what you saw?"

"Something like that." Stefan didn't seem offended. There was no way to pretty up what he'd been. "It makes me weaker than Damon, but I feel more human now. Not as out of control."

"Good." That answered her feeding-from-Elena question. Next order of business . . . "Elena looks like Katherine. And you're with her because . . ."

"Elena is not Katherine. Elena is everything Katherine wasn't. The resemblance drew me in; I wanted to make sure she wasn't her. But after I met her I didn't want a way to connect her to Katherine."

"Hm . . ."

Rebecca shook her head, not really knowing if she should believe him. He _seemed_ sincere enough, of course, but . . . A lot of people could lie.

"Are you gonna tell Elena who you are? She deserves to know, Stefan."

"Are you going to tell her who _you_ are?"

"Soon. I'm not supposed to, but I can't keep lying to her and Bonnie. If I do, I'm gonna lose their friendship and I don't want that." She'd pretty much said everything she wanted to say so she stood up. "Look, whether you tell her what you are or not, she needs to know about Katherine. Elena's big on trust and honesty. If you keep lying to her, she will end up hating you."

Rebecca hated being pushy, she truly did, but she was an honest person. She didn't like deceiving people even when someone deserved it. Not that Stefan did, but Elena definitely didn't. If Elena began to love Stefan without knowing who it was she was getting to know it would - one - annoy her and - two - terrify her. Elena believed in the truth, too, and so far all Stefan had done was lie to her. Plus, Elena was practical; she wouldn't believe in vampires unless she saw one for herself.

Before Rebecca walked away she smiled softly and said, not unkindly, "Tanner hates you; good luck making the team."

* * *

Rebecca walked to Diana's house because she knew she was supposed to train that day. After everything that had happened with the spell she wanted a few days of peace, though it seemed she wasn't going to have any. She'd given up on normality - Vampire Slayer business and all that - but peace; she had hoped she could have that at least. A few hours a day or every other day. Once a week, maybe?

_And my God, what is that incessant cawing_, she thought angrily, looking around.

There was a crow - or was it a raven? - that was following her. That wasn't weird or anything. And if it didn't stop the annoying noise, she was going to throw something at it.

The body of feathers was so black the sun made it look like the crow had rainbows sparkling off of it. As soon as Rebecca looked at the bird it stopped cawing, like it had only wanted her attention. Weird animal. And then there was the distinct impression that she was being followed by something other than her new animal friend.

It made her speed up so she could get inside the safety of Diana's house. Rebecca wasn't scared exactly, but she did feel uneasy and she wanted that feeling to go away. So when she got to Diana's she rushed in and Diana looked at her, somewhat surprised.

"What's wrong?" Diana's steady but distant voice asked.

"Nothing. Um . . . I just feel weird. For some reason. It's nothing." Rebecca shook her head and almost laughed at herself. She shouldn't have freaked out. "Anyway, I was wondering . . . Instead of training today, can I read through some of your books?"

Diana had the best occult collection on the east coast. Rebecca wanted the books on vampires. She wanted to know what the Salvatore brothers had been up to for the last 145 years. She'd much rather have them tell her themselves, but she didn't really feel like asking that question.

"Why? Do you think something's going to happen?" Diana was referring to the fact that Slayers had prophetic dreams sometimes.

"No, I just . . . I think I should be prepared. In case, you know?"

Diana smiled but she also eyed Rebecca suspiciously.

"Well, okay. I can lend you my Watcher's journals. They date back to the early 1700s."

"Watcher's journals?"

"Yes. Watcher's keep journals, records of their charges."

"You keep a journal about me?" That couldn't be safe, right? Someone could find it, read it, lock her away.

"Yes, though it's more a progress report than anything else. You are doing . . . fairly well."

Fairly well? Well . . . That meant she was doing great in Diana-speak.

"Oh. Um . . . Nobody can get to that, right?"

"Right, they're very well protected."

"Well, good."

So with that Rebecca asked for the first three books that Diana had said she could borrow.

* * *

On the way home from Diana's Rebecca got a call from Elena. She knew it must've been important because Elena usually liked texting instead of talking.

"Yeah?" she answered.

"Hey." Elena's voice was a little cautious. "What're you doing tonight?"

"Depends, why?"

"I want you to come over tonight. Dinner. You, me, Bonnie and Stefan." Elena must've _felt_ Rebecca's hesitation because she hurriedly continued. "Please? You and Bonnie need to give Stefan a chance. Plus, I need someone who knows how to cook because you know I'm hopeless in the kitchen."

Rebecca sighed, already beginning to give in. "Well, why can't I cook and then leave?"

"Because there would be no point for you to leave before he gets here. Why don't you like him, anyway?"

Rebecca was quiet for a second. What could she say that wasn't an outright lie? She couldn't just say, _Oh, ya know, he and his brother were turning into vampires and Stefan fed from me and forced Damon to feed from me, which effectively ruined his life_.

That wouldn't go over well.

"Um . . . I don't not like him. I'm just careful. You know that."

"Yeah, you're careful enough for everybody, but please come."

Rebecca rolled her eyes; she was such a pushover. "When do you want me there?"

"Now-ish?"

"Okay, give me, like, ten minutes, okay?"

"Kay. See ya."

They hung up and Rebecca rolled her eyes again. She didn't really want to have dinner with the guy that had attacked her in 1864, but Elena was telling the truth - she was hopeless in the kitchen. In fact, out of everyone Rebecca knew, Elena was the one that was most likely to burn a house down if she tried to cook.

Rebecca knew how to cook because her mom had taught her. Her dad had always been at work and her mom was easily bored, hence cooking lessons.

When she got to Elena's she knocked even though Elena thought of Rebecca as a sister and had told her a bunch of times she didn't need to knock, ever. Elena was still surprised when Rebecca hugged her and Rebecca knew Elena would ask her about that sometime soon and she also knew she wouldn't know what to say.

"Okay. One, when does Bonnie get here? Two, what am I fixing?"

"Lasagna, garlic bread. I can do a salad."

"And Bonnie?"

"No, Bonnie's not for dinner."

A smile broke across Rebecca's face, but she got it under control pretty quickly. "That's so not funny." Especially since a vampire was going to be there. "When's she coming?"

"Any minute now."

"Kay. Well, I'll get started in the kitchen and then we can hang. When's dinner supposed to be done?"

"Eight-ish?"

"Is Jenna gonna be here? Or Jeremy?"

"Jenna has class tonight; Jeremy's at the Grill. Wouldn't hurt to leave them some, though."

"Got it."

In the kitchen Rebecca set Elena to work. Rebecca made the sauce for the lasagna while Elena made a garlic-butter spread for the bread. Rebecca supervised the whole time.

Elena began cutting vegetables for a salad and Rebecca helped her make a vinegar dressing for it. Rebecca was going to teach her _something_ about cooking tonight even if it didn't involve actual cooking.

When Bonnie arrived Elena put on some music and Bonnie began helping too. She made Hershey Syrup brownies. Except for the slight uncomfortableness about dinner, Bonnie was okay and things were fun.

"So . . . How did cheerleading go today?" Rebecca asked Elena.

"Ugh, don't get me started. It sucked. I kept messing up."

"You'll get it," Bonnie said reassuringly. "I'll work with you."

Bonnie began pouring the brownie mix into a baking pan and Rebecca took the bowl from Bonnie so she could scoop some leftover mix from the bowl onto her finger.

"Come on, you know you guys want to," she teased.

So Bonnie and Elena joined her even though they knew it would ruin their appetites. Besides, girls do not pig out on chocolate alone - there had to be a law about that somewhere, Rebecca was sure.

They were interrupted by the doorbell. It was 7:30, so Stefan was probably there. But when Elena went to let him in, it was Damon, not Stefan. Damon and . . . Caroline? Caroline, who had a pie in her hands.

"I heard you were doing dinner so we brought desert," Caroline enthused.

"Hope you don't mind."

There was Damon with his all black outfit, black hair, beautiful blue eyes, pretending to be . . . Well, whatever it was he wanted to be at the moment. The picture of perfection in Rebecca's opinion - the only thing wrong with this scene was Caroline. What was he doing with _her_?

Rebecca suddenly felt really . . . bad. It _hurt_. She hadn't thought it would hurt so much if _this_ Damon didn't want her, but it _did_. It made her feel a little sick . . . And angry. _Jealous_ was probably the better word.

Without waiting to see if Elena was going to invite him in, Rebecca went back into the kitchen. Bonnie followed her and Rebecca could feel the sympathy coming off of her in waves.

"I'm really sorry. I didn't know they were coming. He dropped her off at practice today. I, um . . . I thought you knew."

Rebecca shook her head. "No, I didn't."

"Are you gonna be okay? We haven't even started dinner yet."

"Yes, I'll be fine. He's just a guy, Bonnie."

* * *

Stefan arrived exactly at eight and dinner had already been set up. Elena had gotten out the company plates and glasses. They all had soda of some kind.

Rebecca usually tried to cover all her bases, so she'd made _more_ than enough for two extra people. They were all at the table now, starting their salads and _not_ talking. Damon sat across from Rebecca; Elena sat across from Bonnie; Stefan sat at one end, Caroline at the other. To say things were awkward was an understatement.

Stefan had almost had a stroke when he'd realized Damon was there and had been invited in. Damon had been amused; so had Rebecca been if she was being completely honest with herself. But now, _now_ all Rebecca could hear was the clinking of silverware and it was driving her crazy. And for some reason she had the inappropriate need to laugh at the uncomfortable tension in the room. So she did - the sugar from the chocolate, maybe? - and all eyes turned to her but she couldn't stop the laughter from bubbling out.

"Have you completely lost your mind?" Damon asked, arching a brow.

That just made her laugh harder, to the point where she was doubling over. She was vaguely aware of Damon answering his own question. "She's gone out of her mind."

"Becca! _What_ are you laughing at?" Elena's voice was laced with amusement now. "Care to let us into your head?"

_Well, Elena, I'm sitting here with _you_ who are a spitting image of a raging bitch I met when I traveled back to 1864. Said bitch was a vampire. Stefan and Damon are vampires, too. Then there's Bonnie, who is a witch but doesn't really know it, and she's probably freaking out because she has no idea what's happening to her. Hm . . . What else? Oh yeah, I met Bonnie's great-great-great-great something or other. Uh, and your boyfriend tried to kill me once and . . . Yeah, that's why I didn't want to be here. Oh, and yeah, also . . . I'm a vampire slayer and -_

Rebecca could barely breathe for laughing so hard. But her laugh was infectious. Bonnie, Elena, Caroline, and even Stefan were laughing now. Damon, however, wasn't. He was just staring at them like they'd all gone nuts.

"What the hell is wrong with you people?" he muttered. "Are you allergic to something in the food?"

"No, I . . ." Rebecca panted and spoke between breaths. "I was just thinking how . . . ridiculous this is. Two of us don't even _want_ to be here, but we _are_ and we can't even talk to each other. The whole point of this dinner - which we spent two hours on, by the way - was to get to know Stefan and all that. So . . . Now that I've made a complete idiot out of myself and removed the tension by doing so, let's get down to what we're supposed to be doing. Please."

She realized her rant was bordering on Caroline-esque, but her points were all valid.

"So . . . Did Tanner let you on the team?" Rebecca asked Stefan, catching her breath and calming down. She had helped fix this dinner and she was going to enjoy it, damn it.

"Yes, but he wasn't too happy about it at first."

Rebecca nodded. "I told you this afternoon he hated you. He hates everybody." She wasn't being mean, just honest. "Now, come on, people. I can't have a conversation by myself; you must contribute." She made an innocent, sheepish expression and said, "Please?" again.

"Bonnie, why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" Elena said, coming to the rescue.

"Um, divorced. No mom, live with my dad." It was like pulling teeth.

"No, about the witches," Elena mumbled, and Stefan's head turned toward her. "Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. It's really cool."

"Cool isn't the word I'd use," Bonnie countered.

"Well, it's certainly interesting," Stefan said. "I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic Druids that migrated here in the 1800s."

"My family came by way of Salem."

"Really? Salem witches? I'd say that's pretty cool."

"Really? Why?" Bonnie seemed embarrassed by the subject; Rebecca felt sorry for her - she didn't like to be the center of attention either.

"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and non-conformity."

And just like that Bonnie had been won over.

_Ha_! Rebecca thought and took a bite of her salad. Mission accomplished, she could now eat the meal happily. Though she vaguely wondered if they'd be so accepting if they knew what Stefan and Damon were.

* * *

After dinner Rebecca helped Elena transfer the leftovers into containers and she stayed in the kitchen when Elena washed the dishes. Elena was fair; Rebecca had cooked so she wasn't supposed to help clean. Then she got bored. Plus, she didn't want to go in the living room because Damon was there, with Caroline.

"Give me a dish rag," she said, going to stand by Elena. "I'll wash, you can dry."

Elena smiled softly but did as Rebecca asked even though there was a perfectly serviceable dish washer not even a foot away.

"Thank you for what you did earlier. The whole laughing thing."

"I didn't mean to do that. I literally couldn't help it."

"Well, intentional or not, it worked. Thank you. Lunatic."

"Ugh -" Rebecca splashed some of the dish water at Elena, who shrieked a little "- I am not a lunatic." Though she herself might be in love with one; she wasn't too clear on that yet.

Rebecca heard Caroline's voice coming from the living room and almost cringed. "I cannot believe Mr. Tanner let you on the team. Tyler must be seething."

Tyler Lockwood was always seething, always angry about _something_.

"But good for you - go for it."

Damon then said something but Rebecca didn't have supersonic hearing so she couldn't exactly make out what he was saying.

"We could socialize if you want," Elena said. She must've caught Rebecca looking toward the living room longingly.

"No, uh, I can't stay much longer. I have these books I need to start on. I got 'em from a friend and I'm not sure when she'll want them back."

"Oh, well, thanks for cooking. Everything turned out great."

"You're welcome. And of course it did, because I did it."

Elena shook her head fondly and they went back to work.

* * *

After the dishes were done Rebecca got her things together and said bye to everyone - even Damon and Caroline, though she would've rather ignored them altogether.

"Do you need a ride?" Bonnie offered.

"No thanks. I'm good. Uh, I'll walk it."

"You sure? I'll probably leave soon."

"I need the air," Rebecca said. "Thanks anyway, though."

As Rebecca walked out the door Caroline followed her and Rebecca had to fight the urge to run away, but she stopped at the end of the yard and let Caroline catch up.

"Look, I didn't know you liked him, okay?"

"Yes, you did, Caroline." Rebecca had a very vivid memory of telling her how she liked Damon. "You just didn't care." Rebecca sighed and shook her head. "You know what? It doesn't even matter. Just go back inside. I've really gotta go."

Part of it _was_ because she needed to get started on the journals Diana had given her; the other part was because she was supposed to take a quick stroll through town every night just in case. She wondered if she was even ready for patrolling. She hadn't been training that long and she wasn't super-confident in her ability to take on more than one vampire at a time - or _any_ vampire. That one from 1864 had only been easy because she'd taken him by surprise.

Rebecca watched Caroline go back in and she took off. She knew that she wouldn't exactly have to stick to the shadows; it wasn't like in the movies. Real vampires would go to a place with a lot of victim choices to pick from.

Rebecca didn't really feel like going to a crowded place, not now. She wasn't in the best of moods. Besides, the vampires could feel her just like she could feel them. They could come find _her_. She wasn't going to find some random vampire just so she could stake them. What if said vampire wasn't hurting anyone? She didn't want to hurt anyone innocent, no matter what species they were.

She wasn't a good Slayer, she didn't think, because she couldn't bring herself to be motivated to do her job. Sure, if she saw a vampire killing someone she'd help out and get rid of said vampire, but she didn't feel like actively seeking them out.

Besides, aside from Damon and Stefan she hadn't even felt anymore vampires and she hadn't heard of any other attacks. So if there _were_ other vampires in town, they weren't killing . . . Unless they were doing like Katherine had done and were integrating into the town so no one would _suspect_ vampire.

It was as she was thinking about there not being any other vampires that she got ambushed by three of them. They were big and they towered over her; they were big enough to be professional football players.

Rebecca placed her book bag in front of her chest protectively; in all reality she was reaching into the secret compartment to get a stake - she kept one with her at all times.

All three of the vampires looked human at the moment, but she noticed the look in their eyes; they were hungry. They had her cornered on three sides and they were trying to get her to go down a back alley. Well, she wasn't that stupid. She was not going to trap herself.

"You know, this isn't exactly a good time for me; can we do this later?"

She now had the stake in her hand, though the three couldn't see it. They launched themselves at Rebecca and she could tell they had worked together before. Rebecca hit the one on the right with her bag, which had five books in it. She knew it would only distract the vampire but it was worth it.

The one in front of her began to swing forward with his arm so Rebecca ducked to the side and reached out with her hand to sweep the vampire's hand away. She spun around to drive her right fist against the vampire's head. She heard the sound of bones cracking - the vampire's skull? - and she looked at her still clenched fist in amazement. Had she really done that?

The one she'd just hit stumbled to the ground, temporarily paralyzed - with pain? Or surprise? Did these guys not know who she was? Had they never come across a Slayer before?

The third vampire closed in on Rebecca, swinging his arm. She blocked the swing with her forearm - which she learned kind of hurt - then twisted her hips and drove her hand into the vampire's throat.

_Hey, I'm actually pretty good at this_, she thought, congratulating herself.

The vampire froze as she crushed his larynx. He collapsed and gripped his throat. His face went all vampire - red eyes, veins, fangs. Dude was pissed and obviously in a lot of pain. Rebecca had to fight the urge to say she was sorry. But, hey, they had attacked her first, and she had even given them the chance to leave.

The vampire that she'd hit with her book bag was attacking now and, because she was distracted, he was able to get a hit in. Pain shot through Rebecca's head.

She fell backward from the force of the blow and she realized she'd been hit by her own bag. She caught herself in time and kicked the vampire's legs out from under him. In the next two seconds she kicked the vampire in the face - she was angry that she'd gotten knocked down. Blood gushed from the guy's nose; she hadn't known vampires bled so easily.

Her head still hurt and she had her own blood in her mouth; it was trailing down the side, she could feel it. She wiped it away and a trail of crimson came away onto her hand. She knew that now that she was bleeding the vampires would be more vicious. They would smell the blood now.

Before she could stake the one she'd just knocked down, the one she'd hit with her fist got back up - damn, they healed fast. He came at her fast, striking with more speed than she herself had. She blocked a lot of the blows, but all of them hurt; one of them almost broke her arm. She was getting tired. She grabbed his arm on the next strike and refused to let go. She drove her knee into the vampire's crotch.

It earned her a cry of pain. Sure, he was a vampire, but he was also a man, so he fell to the ground and Rebecca mercilessly launched another kick - she found she liked working with her legs. - at his mouth. She hoped she knocked a fang loose.

She staked this one in the heart and waited for him to mummify and then moved on to the one with the collapsed larynx. Then she took care of the one with the bloody nose.

"Great. Now I have three bodies I don't know what to do with."

Then there were three claps from behind her. She didn't have to look to know it was Damon. His feeling was completely different from other vampires - maybe because he'd been close to her once? He threw her on an emotional level, not a physical one.

"Working out some personal issues?" he asked, gesturing to the now dead vampires.

"Were you following me?" Rebecca asked, ignoring his question.

"Yes," he said simply. "I was going to lend a hand, but I noticed you had it covered. I guess."

"Mm-hm." Rebecca bit her lip and noticed it still tasted like blood. She wiped it again. "Ow."

Damon, being a vampire, homed in on the blood, but he seemed to have control so Rebecca relaxed a little even though her body was still in hyper drive - adrenaline, she guessed. The air shifted around her as he appeared right in front of her.

He was . . . examining her wounds? What was it to him? He had obviously moved onto Caroline now. If she sounded bitter, it was because she was.

"I'm okay," she said automatically. "I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to explain all this to my dad, but . . . I'm fine."

"Your arm is gonna swell," he said. "And you need help getting rid of these guys. Nice job, by the way."

"Hm."

Nice job? Was he being serious? Or sarcastic? It was hard to tell with him sometimes. And he was checking out her arm? Really? God, she didn't want to have to question him all the time, but 145 years had passed for him, so obviously he would've changed. But . . . How much?

"I didn't know I could do it. Glad I wound up on the winning side." She paused, remembering what he'd said about the vampires she'd killed. "Were you offering to help?"

"Yes."

"Fine. I have to get home so we have to hurry."

"I've got this. You can go."

He was dismissing her? Right . . . Well . . . Whatever.

"What was that with Caroline?" Because she had to know. "I mean . . . were you trying to hurt me? Because if that was your plan, congratulations. It worked."

Damon's blue eyes looked electric for a second; they flashed with anger. "If I wanted to hurt you, I have more direct ways to do it."

Rebecca looked away; she knew he was right. "Then what was that? Do you . . . like her?"

Damon almost scoffed - so that was a _no_ - then his eyes zeroed in on her and he smirked. "You're jealous."

Rebecca didn't answer; she just glared.

"You _are_." He drew out the word _are_ to make more than one syllable and he sounded amused and a little smug and she kind of wanted to hit him.

"Fine," she admitted. "Yes, okay. Rebecca gets jealous. Jealous because the guy she likes is with another girl." She picked up her bag; she realized they needed to get going in case somebody happened by. "Yeah, jealous. I don't know what I was thinking. Good-bye, Damon."

"If you wait for me to get these guys in the trunk, I'll drive you home."

"I'd rather walk."

"Don't be stupid. You couldn't go up against a flea right now. It's not safe for you to walk home alone."

She was just about to say _no_ again but the pain in her head and arm reminded her that he was telling the truth.

"Fine," she said unhappily.

"Fine." He grabbed the first guy and threw him over his shoulder. "Go grab my car, would you? It's parked down the street, keys are in the ignition."

"Yeah, yeah."

She found his Camaro pretty quickly and drove it to the alley where he loaded the bodies into the trunk; she didn't know how the hell they fit, but they did.

Once Damon was in the driver's seat Rebecca sighed. "Were you . . . checking up on me?"

Damon stared straight ahead, not answering.

"Damon?"

"That's why I was following you, yes." Damon sighed and looked at her briefly before turning back to the window. "I didn't know you were going to be there, okay?"

This time _she_ was the one who didn't speak. She didn't want to hear any excuses; it didn't make it okay. And if he didn't like Caroline, what the hell was he doing with her?

Then, duh . . . Vampire!

"You're feeding from her," she said, no judgment in her voice. Actually, there was a little relief there. "She's a . . . snack food?"

Rebecca couldn't stop the laugh from escaping her mouth. Boy-crazy Caroline - it was finally coming back to bite her on the ass. Though, hopefully it wasn't literally on the ass.

"So sad that you sound happy about that." Damon smirked. "Elena was right, though. You _are_ a lunatic."

"Says the vampire," Rebecca muttered. "She really doesn't mean anything to you? Other than a meal?"

"She means _nothing_ to me. She doesn't even know what I am. She doesn't remember the fangs or anything about that. She thinks I'm her boyfriend. A fact that will change, if you want it to."

"I do. You deserve better than a blond bimbo." Rebecca blushed fiercely at her name-calling. "And I'd appreciate it very much if she never found out I called her that."

"Well, then maybe you should be nicer to me." His patented shit-eating grin fell into place and she rolled her eyes.

"I was being nice to you. That was me being nice when I'm in a bad mood."

"That little show of violence was you being nice?" Damon almost smiled. "I'd hate to see what would happen if you _weren't_ being nice."

"Oh, I wasn't being nice to _them_. I was, as you said, working out my personal issues. It helped a little, which is scary. Violence isn't the way to solve things."

"But it's effective. You just said you feel a little better - well, aside from the new pain anyway. Which I can get rid of, if you want."

Rebecca realized Damon was being helpful because he didn't want to apologize. She let it go easily while also vaguely wondering when he'd last apologized to anyone.

When he pulled up to her house he cut the headlights off as he parked in the driveway.

"Are they awake?"

"Yes, but it sounds like they're in bed."

"Okay. Go to my bedroom window and I'll let you in. I don't wanna risk them seeing you, so be quiet." She wondered if she should say please. She didn't want him to think she was trying to boss him around.

"I'm gonna move the car first," he said and she nodded.

Once inside, Rebecca went straight to her room and opened the window. Chelsea was asleep in her crib and she hoped the baby stayed asleep. She didn't need Chelsea crying because there was a strange man in the bedroom.

Damon appeared at her window and she invited him in, breaking the weird no-invitation barrier. What was that about anyway? Maybe it was proof of the metaphor that evil couldn't get in unless one invited it in.

Damon climbed gracefully through the window and went to sit on her bed. Rebecca realized he could now come into her house whenever he wanted and she hoped she hadn't made a mistake by letting him in. She was still on the fence with this Damon; she could never really tell what he was thinking or what he was up to.

She sat beside him, her heart trip-hopping all over the place, and moved her hair over her left shoulder. She shouldn't be okay with exchanging blood; humans weren't supposed to be okay with _a lot_ of things Rebecca was okay with. Damon munching on Caroline; Rebecca getting ready to let him munch on her; her getting ready to drink his blood. Granted that last one was because she couldn't explain her injuries to her dad, but she _shouldn't_ be okay with it.

The only thing she had a problem with was the violence. She was killing people - well, vampires, but still . . . And she'd found out tonight that she was good at it. She'd even enjoyed it a little. That couldn't be right. She was nice and sweet; she _couldn't_ like killing things. Shouldn't was probably the better word. She _shouldn't_ like killing things or beating things up.

She was shocked out of her thoughts by Damon grabbing her arm and, again, examining it only more thoroughly than before.

"It's not broken."

But the skin was discolored already. It looked like she'd been hit with a baseball bat. She felt just as bad. It hurt to move her fingers; it sent shards of pain through her arm.

She watched as Damon bit his wrist and held it up to her mouth. She hesitated for only a few seconds, but then she accepted what he was offering, knowing it would help. She knew if she'd refused him now he wouldn't offer again. She also knew she wouldn't patrol the next night just in case the blood hadn't passed through her system.

* * *

Damon watched as Rebecca drank from him. He watched and felt, felt something _real_ for the first time in 145 years. Rebecca was here and safe, and after she got some blood in her system she'd be fine.

The newness of his emotions was enough to throw him if he let them. He hadn't expected _everything_ to come rushing back, not so fast. But from the moment he'd seen her . . . he'd felt something inside him shift, change. He wasn't sure if it was good or bad. On the one hand he knew Rebecca deserved something better than an unfeeling jerk, which he knew he could act like when he wanted to. Then on the other hand, guilt and regret and all the other negative emotions weren't things he wanted to feel. The easier road was not to feel at all.

Her lips felt amazing on his skin and he appreciated the fact that she trusted him enough to let him do this for her. But of course she trusted him; she didn't know how much he'd changed.

He pulled away after her arm was better - that was the worst injury she had received. His eyes fell to her exposed neck; her pulse was thrumming along healthily and he was entranced because it was _her_ pulse, her blood pumping through her body - along with his own now. But mostly hers. He'd wanted her blood since she'd been gone. He had a feeling it was probably addictive, her blood.

"Don't you have to bite?" she asked softly, wiping the crimson away from her lips, his blood from her lips.

_So tempting_, he thought, but shook his head anyway. It sucked, no pun intended, but he wasn't used to denying himself anything he wanted, but he guess that was different now, too.

"My blood's already working. I don't have to drink from you to heal you."

"Oh."

She got up but told him she'd be right back. She needed some Excedrin because she knew she would have a headache from the blood. His blood caused different reactions in different people.

While she was gone he took the room in. The walls were blue and the carpet was white as was the dresser. The dresser had a bunch of odds and ends on it. Jewelry box, music box, pictures, lip gloss. Normal girl stuff. Except for a small notebook that he probably shouldn't have looked at but did anyway.

It was a lyrics book; he would definitely be checking that out later when he had time.

Because he was Damon Salvatore he _had_ to look through her underwear drawer. Surprise, surprise, Rebecca had matching underwear sets. Blue, black, red, lilac - and most of them were made of lace.

"Hm." He could picture her wearing them now and he smirked.

"Oh, that's mature. Rebecca has girl parts, she wears bras."

Rebecca took her bra from him. He'd heard her coming; he just hadn't cared if he got caught.

"Behave," she chided gently. "My dad is in the other room."

That was all she needed, her dad thinking she was sleeping with someone. Her dad would end up getting her a metal chastity belt complete with lock and key.

She got the three journals out of her book bag and started reading the first one.

"What're those?" Damon asked.

"Watcher's journals. This one is from the 1700s."

It made it kind of hard to read because the language was so strange. She could make out enough to understand, though.

The way this Watcher wrote she could tell he'd probably been long-winded and pompous. She wondered if he talked as dull as he'd written. This really wasn't what she was looking for, anyway. She wanted first hand accounts from the Slayer's point of view. She wanted to know if it was normal for her to feel the way she did.

"Oh, dear Lord," she muttered, getting up to put that and the other two journals away. She had a place in her closet that her dad didn't know about. She'd pried a few boards loose and now whenever she had something she didn't want her dad to know about she put it in her secret place.

"Learn anything?" Damon asked sarcastically.

Rebecca jumped a little. She'd almost forgotten he was there he'd been so quiet. It had been peaceful, but now she could see he was bothered by being ignored, on purpose or not.

"No."

Then she realized she had absentmindedly laid beside him. She didn't care exactly - they'd laid in the same bed before - but she did have a small problem.

"Damon, you know I can't be with you while you're with Caroline. Or while she thinks you're with her. I'm not that girl." She deliberated and then said, "I know you need blood to survive, you can't help that, and if you feed from her or anyone else, that's fine. I'm not gonna ask you to give up human blood, it's your natural food source."

She grimaced slightly as she realized what she was saying.

"It shouldn't be fine, but I honestly don't care as long as no one dies. But as long as Caroline still thinks you two are together I can't even begin to try this out with you."

Damon's expression turned serious; there was no trace of sarcasm, no feigned indifference, no usual cold distance.

"But you _do_ want to try?"

"Yes," she answered honestly. "I told you I would be here for you if that was what you wanted. I know that it's not gonna be easy. You'll need to get used to me again. 145 years is a long time. I mean, you need to figure out if I even fit in your life anymore, if I have a place in it."

"You do have a place in it." That was the quickest response known to man. "My whole life - or existence - I've never been more certain of anything. I survived to get back to you."

Rebecca had to swallow to get past the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat. He was telling her the truth; he'd come here for her. Granted, it wasn't going exactly the way she'd planned what with the whole Caroline thing, but he wanted to be with her. That was why he was in Mystic Falls.

Damon surprised her when he leaned forward and kissed her quickly on the forehead. That was neutral ground - friendly, but not overly friendly.

"I have to go take care of those bodies, bury them somewhere."

"Mm. Make sure they stay buried, please."

When Damon got up to leave Rebecca grabbed his arm to prevent him from moving anymore. Though she knew it was more like he _let_ her stop him.

"Wait." She bit her lip briefly before continuing. "Thank you. For watching out for me. I know I didn't act it before, but I am grateful, so thank you."

A small graceful smile made it to Damon's lips and Rebecca exhaled sharply. That had to be her favorite smile. It wasn't big but it was honest and sincere. She almost heard the _anytime_ he was probably thinking before he turned around and went out the window soundlessly.

Before she dozed off she wondered when the last time had been that someone had thanked Damon for anything.

* * *

Okay, so here it is. They're first meeting after the spell ended. I hope I didn't mess up Damon's character too much! I just think he would've been cautious until he realized she'd meant what she said when she said she'd be with him in her time period. He'd want to know he wasn't going to be rejected before he made it known he wanted to try with her too.

They're relationship is obviously going to be rocky at first because he has had his emotions turned off and they're going to be making appearances without his permission, exactly. LOL

I hope the fight scene wasn't too confusing; I hate writing fights, but I needed to have that in there, so you guys could see where exactly she's at in her training. Also, I think Damon really would've loved seeing her kick ass whether she got hurt or not, and he would've intervened if he'd had to, of course.

Let me know what you guys think.


	15. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

"Diana, where did vampires come from?" Rebecca asked while practicing her arm movements. "I mean the very first one."

"Nobody really knows, but there are theories," the gray-haired Watcher said. "The Watcher's Council believes that demons walked the Earth for untold eons. When the humans appeared the demons died out, but not before infecting a few humans. The humans were bitten and then those humans bit other humans. They fed to survive. Mixed their blood with humans to make more of their kind."

"When - when you say _demons_ . . . do you mean vampires, or . . ."

"Vampires are considered to be demons, yes. They walk and talk and remember their life but they're not human. But I didn't mean _just_ vampires. There are other things out there. Werewolves, incubi, succubae, zombies . . . Things that you've probably never even heard of." Diana's voice suddenly softened. "That's why I train you so hard. I know what you might have to face one day. So remember when I'm hard on you I'm doing it for a good reason."

Rebecca was so shocked that she messed up one of her moves and had to redo the whole set. Could it be that Diana cared for her?

"Um . . . Okay. Um . . . I found three vampires last night. They didn't look local."

"Oh? Yes?" Diana got out a pen and a journal. "Vampires?"

"Killed 'em." What did Diana want, a blow-by-blow explanation? "Wasn't that hard."

"What did they want?"

"Um . . . To eat me? Just a shot in the dark. I don't think they knew who I am."

"What did you do with them?"

"Buried them. I didn't know what else to do."

Why couldn't they have just gone poof? It would've been so much simpler that way.

"No, that's fine." She looked at Rebecca suspiciously. "But you seem to be fine. You didn't get hurt at all?"

Rebecca rolled her eyes. Either Diana was extremely British or she was actually disappointed that Rebecca was okay.

"I'm fine. I was a little sore this morning, but I'm okay. It wouldn't kill you to be happy. I promise no one has ever gotten hurt by smiling too much."

Rebecca went back to work until Diana told her it was okay to stop.

"I need you to help me with something tonight."

"Sure, what?"

"I'm getting a shipment of books tonight at nine o'clock. I could do it by myself, but it will go faster if you come with me."

"Well, I was planning to go to a football game, but if it's really important . . ."

"It is. It's more occult books. We may need them one day."

That was how Rebecca found herself near a cargo-holding warehouse in Richmond, VA, at a little after nine p.m. on a Friday night. Hopefully everything went smoothly because she was supposed to be home by eleven. Her dad still thought she was going to a football game with her friends.

Diana had picked a cargo-hold because there were always trucks of shipments coming and going and no one was going to notice one more truck, especially one that only carried books. Rebecca was with her in a van she'd rented - for the space in the back. Rebecca was sure that she was only there for the strength and speed she could provide. Diana was using her.

She felt as her phone vibrated against her hip. When she took it out of her jeans she noticed Diana rolled her eyes. Rebecca smiled sheepishly before answering.

"Yes?"

"Becca?" Bonnie's worried voice came over the line. "Where are you?"

"Um . . ." Damn. "Helping a friend move some things. Why?"

"I've just had this bad feeling all day and when you didn't show up at the game I . . . freaked out. I'm . . . sorry."

"No, don't be." Rebecca smiled at the concern Bonnie was expressing, but internally she was beginning to worry herself; Bonnie's feelings were usually scary-accurate.

"What are you doing?"

"A favor for a friend. Like I told you." Rebecca sighed. "Look, Bonnie, why don't you come over tomorrow morning and I'll show you I'm completely okay. Okay?"

Bonnie chuckled and agreed.

"Kay, I really need to go but I'll see ya tomorrow."

With that, the conversation ended only for Diana to start a new one.

"The Council said to expect thieves. These books are priceless. There is knowledge in them that the bad guys would love to get their hands on. Prophecies and things like that."

"Human thieves?" Rebecca asked, not really caring about the books.

"Mm-mm. Demonic. Vampires. They're muscle for hire."

"So they'll be stealing the books for someone else." Then Rebecca groaned. "This is why you wanted me to come, isn't it?"

"Yes," she said simply.

"Why didn't you just tell me? I still would've helped you." Only she would've been more prepared.

"I'm telling you now. Someone made a play for the books in England. A lot of dead bodies were left behind. A lot of human bodies."

So whoever wanted them was pretty serious about it. Maybe she should pay attention after all.

"So, you said . . . prophecies. About what?"

"Different things; some of the books have information about you. Not _you_ specifically, but the Slayer."

The conversation was cut short when Rebecca noticed the big semi-truck pulling a long, empty trailer; it was the first one that hadn't been carrying anything. This was probably what they'd been waiting for. The truck stopped near a loading station and the vehicle's lights cut off. Two people - vampires? She couldn't tell from this far away - came out of the loading area; two came out of the truck.

"All four of them are stone-cold killers," Diana said.

Rebecca glared at her Watcher. "Are these books really worth dying for?"

_Are they worth becoming a vampire for_? She asked herself. She might still have vampire blood in her system.

"We need those books, Rebecca," Diana said sternly.

"Fine. Stay here. If things go south, get out of here."

Rebecca was almost out of the van when Diana grabbed her arm. Diana had a leather bag that she handed to her.

"Those are four problems; this is a bag full of solutions."

Stakes. Rebecca grabbed the bag and went to hide behind a big metal container. The vampires were headed to another container, only this one was being lifted by a forklift. That meant there were other humans here.

Of course there were. Now not only did she have to make sure she got what Diana wanted, but she also had to not let people get a good look at her while she was fighting.

Rebecca could already tell this was not going to end well; the vampires were fast and before she could even warn the operator of the forklift, he was dead. Blood was just pouring down the guy's shirt - his jugular had been ripped open and it hadn't been with the intent to feed.

Rebecca stopped in her tracks and swallowed back the bile that wanted to make its way up her throat. That had been uncalled for and brutal and -

She sensed movement to her left and she moved just in time to miss a blow from a vampire. It would've hit her in the head, and now her shock and disgust had turned to anger.

Unlike the last fight, she didn't waste time with trading blows; she just staked the vampire and moved on. Two of the vampires were still working on getting the container so she only had to worry about the one she was fighting now. She'd worry about the other two later. The one she was fighting ended up throwing her against the corner of the container and it dug into her back.

She took a deep breath while she got used to the pain. Tears stung her eyes and made her vision blurry, but no, she couldn't cry, not right now. It would get her killed.

She grabbed the vampire that had thrown her by the head and twisted until she heard a snap. Okay, that worked . . . Until it healed, anyway. She staked him just for good measure.

She had two more to go and one of them deserved serious pain for killing the guy on the forklift. She would have to put her wrath away, though, because that wasn't important; surviving was. Then she and Diana were going to have a big discussion about what was and wasn't worth dying over. A load of books was _not_.

Another forklift operator was killed - a vampire ripped his head clean off. The bile rose in her throat again, but she knew she had to fight through it.

She ran toward the forklift that had the hopefully precious cargo on it and heard as the onsite security system began to siren loudly. That meant she had only seven minutes before the police responded; that meant the two vampires did too. If she could just keep them occupied long enough . . . Yeah, the cargo would end up in police custody but it was better than it disappearing forever.

Then the onsite security team showed up and they had guns. Needless to say, Rebecca stayed hidden while there were shots being fired. Hopefully enough bullets were landing to seriously weaken the vampires or to make them retreat.

Within a few minutes Rebecca was back in the van with Diana. Diana had come for her as soon as the gunshots had started.

"Did you get them?" Rebecca asked weakly. Rebecca was in serious pain so whatever they'd meant to get Diana better have gotten it.

"We're getting them now." Diana gave her a once over. "You've lost a lot of blood."

Rebecca cried out when her back hit the seat and they resituated her.

"We'll get you to a hospital soon."

"No," Rebecca almost shouted. "That would freak my dad out and then I'd have to explain why I was here and I can't lie to him. Just get me home."

Diana looked like she was completely against that idea, but she didn't disagree out loud.

"Take me home," she said as firmly as she could manage.

Rebecca waited semi-patiently for Diana to get whatever it was that Diana thought she needed. Rebecca experimented with her shoulder but stopped very quickly when pain skyrocketed through it. While Diana was helping load the big box of books - was that really all that was in there? - Rebecca had the presence of mind to call Damon. She didn't really want to have this conversation with him, but she needed to so . . .

"Hello?"

"Hey. I need your help. I was doing a favor for a friend and it went horribly wrong. I hurt my shoulder, bad . . . And I can't go to the hospital. If you think you can handle the blood I'd really appreciate if you could come over. I'm not home yet, but I will be soon."

And she'd seen two people get killed tonight in cold blood. The first had had his throat ripped out. Had the man died instantly or had he panicked and tried to stop the blood flow? The second man's death had been quick but just as traumatizing.

"Rebecca, listen to me," Damon's voice called her back and then she realized that she was hyperventilating and he could probably hear it even over the phone. There was an edge to his voice that she hadn't heard from vampire Damon: Concern. He was . . . still capable of it.

"I'm listening."

"How much blood have you lost?" At least he seemed to know she wouldn't have called for this if it hadn't been important.

"I don't know. Diana said a lot. And I can't move my shoulder. I don't think it's broken, though." She'd been able to move it fine when she'd had adrenaline rushing through her.

"Okay. Number one: calm down. Freaking out is not going to help you. Try to breathe normally, match it to whoever you're with. You need to calm your heartbeat or you're going to bleed out faster."

Rebecca listened to his voice and since he _sounded_ calm it helped soothe her. It couldn't be too bad if Damon could be this calm about it. She couldn't be in that much trouble if he was being rational about it.

"You'll be there when I get home. Right?" Because, really, that was the point to this conversation, wasn't it?

"Yes, I'll be there. I'll need to find something to eat before I see you like that. Then later you and I need to talk about you needlessly putting your life at risk." The last part was said lightly, but she could tell he was serious. "I didn't wait 145 years just to lose you again after I found you."

* * *

Damon did as he'd said he was going to do. He'd fed before going to Rebecca's house. He'd gone to Caroline's house. She'd just gotten home from a football game; she'd still been in her cheerleading uniform. He had drank enough to make her pass out and he'd considered draining her just to be on the safe side, but her mother was the Sheriff and she wouldn't have stopped until she'd found Caroline's killer.

But here he was, now in Rebecca's room waiting for her to return. What had she been doing that had caused her to be hurt? Who had the friend been and what was the favor? What had been so important that Rebecca had been willing to risk her life for it?

Human life - Rebecca's life - was fragile. It could end in a second; Damon could lose Rebecca in an instant. He'd spent so much time not caring about anything other than getting back to Rebecca that he hadn't really thought about what would happen once he found her. Rebecca was a Slayer; he'd learned over the years that most girls who were chosen didn't make it past the twenty-five year mark. He'd already seen how dangerous her life could be and he knew she got hurt easier now only because all of this was new to her, but what if, one day, something worse happened and he wasn't there?

He finally heard the front door open - _Thank God, I was beginning to brood_, he thought - and Rebecca came to her room quickly.

The vampire in him wanted to emerge and his teeth ached with the desire to plunge into her soft flesh, but he kept it in check. It had been smart to feed before coming here. He'd have had a way harder time controlling himself if he hadn't. As it was, his canines began to elongate but he breathed through it and got control again. He'd been able to control his bloodlust for a long time, but since he was a vampire and she was bleeding _badly_, his body reacted on instinct.

Rebecca was just standing there, dazed. She was pale; her usually tan skin had almost no color. From shock or blood loss he wasn't sure. What he _was_ sure of, however, was that if she didn't sit down soon, she was going to topple over. So he helped her to the bed.

"I cut my shoulder on this metal container . . . thing," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "It hurts to move it."

He could tell her mind was getting ready to shut down so he had to act fast. He knew how much blood a person could lose before they became unresponsive and Rebecca was close to that point.

"Do you trust me?" he asked firmly enough for her to pay attention. "Do you trust me enough to let me remove your necklace?"

She bit her lip and contemplated. Then she said 'yes' hesitantly. He could tell it meant she wasn't sure she _should_ trust him, but she was giving him a chance for him to prove she could. It was more than what most people gave him.

He removed the vervain-filled cross necklace that Sheila Bennett had given her and placed it on her bedside table, all the while reminding himself who he was with and that he shouldn't take advantage.

"Okay, I'm gonna take off your shirt now." He was being clinical about it, not that she was too aware of what was going on around her. He helped her get the shirt off because he didn't want her to try to move her shoulder too much. Just because Rebecca didn't think it was broken didn't mean it wasn't.

At the sight of the blood still leaking from her wound he had to turn his head away and imagine he was anywhere but there. Because _he wanted it_. Why hadn't Rebecca just gone to the hospital? She shouldn't have called him, that was for sure.

_She trusts you_, a voice that sounded a lot like his own only . . . not filled his head. _She believes in you_.

_Well, that's just stupid_, he answered back. _I'm a vampire_.

Then he realized he was having a conversation with himself in his head and focused on what he should have been focusing on in the first place. Rebecca. He needed to make sure she hadn't damaged her shoulder too badly, but to do that he needed to be able to move it.

"Okay, Becca -" she smiled softly at the shortening of her name "- Look at me. I have to move your shoulder but I promise you won't feel any pain, okay?"

She nodded but even now her breathing was becoming fast and shallow; she was beginning to hyperventilate.

"Hey -" he began to use his compulsion "- Becca, you're okay. You're going to go to sleep and you're not going to feel anything of what I'm about to do."

"I'm not going to feel anything of what you're about to do," she agreed mechanically.

Her eyes closed and she went limp in his arms. He placed her on the bed the way he needed her and then went to work on her. He made sure the compulsion took first and he felt a sharp jolt of relief when he saw it did. This wouldn't hurt her.

These sudden waves of emotions were annoying and hard to keep up with . . . But he could deal with it. If it meant being able to be close to Rebecca, being someone she could rely on . . . he would deal with it.

Damon did his best to stop the blood flow but unless he wanted to stitch her up, which he didn't, there was no way to humanly do it.

"Becca, you're going to wake up now," he whispered into her ear, "but you're still not going to feel any pain."

Well, actually, the pain was still there but her brain wasn't registering it - the beauty of compulsion.

Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at him, confused. "Damon?"

"Hm?"

"I feel as though I should be in a lot of pain."

A small huff of laughter made its way out of his mouth. She felt as though she should be in pain? Was that because she remembered what had happened or because her mind was trying to fight off the compulsion? Could Slayers do that?

Damon bit his wrist and held it to her mouth. "I can't stop the blood, you need to drink."

She didn't hesitate this time, he noticed. And he wasn't compelling her now. She knew he was trying to help her and she accepted it without thinking. He vaguely wondered if someone could get addicted to vampire blood. He'd given her blood four times - twice in the past; twice in the present. But she didn't seem addicted; she was the one who let go of his arm first when she thought she'd had enough.

"Thank you."

"You okay?"

She nodded and he watched as she happily moved her shoulder until she realized she was shirtless, clad only in her bra. Her nose scrunched up, she closed her eyes, bit her lip and her cheeks turned pink. At least there was color now. Her arms crossed over her chest to cover herself and she groaned a little.

Dare he think it but she was adorable when she was embarrassed. He'd missed her so much and he'd forgotten how shy she could be.

"I, uh, seem to be having a bit of a clothing issue. Um . . ." She stood up unsteadily. "I'm gonna go take a shower and then we can talk."

She picked up her bloody shirt and muttered, "Guess I should just burn this. It's all ruined."

Then she got her bed sheets together and he realized she was removing anything and everything that could tempt him to lose control. Which was ridiculous because didn't she know she was tempting all by herself? He didn't need to see or smell her blood to want it, just like he didn't need to see her to want her.

"You _are_ still going to be here, right?" she asked uncertainly. "I mean, if you have to go, I understand."

"Go take your shower." She didn't move; she just looked at him, into his eyes, waiting for an answer. "Yes, I'll be here."

_Stubborn girl_, he thought fondly.

* * *

After Rebecca put the sheets in the washer she got into a steaming hot shower and tried to make her head stop hurting. No, there was no physical ache but she needed a good mental tidy. The two men she'd seen get killed kept running through her mind; she couldn't un-see what she'd seen. It would be forever etched into her memory. Usually she could just block painful memories, but this wasn't just painful; these were traumatizing.

While thinking about the two men she watched her own blood, now pink with the water, go down the drain. Her tears mixed with the water coming from the showerhead and she knew she was going to start sobbing if she wasn't careful. Then she realized she didn't _care_ if she was going to cry because she felt like crying. She needed to cry to feel better, to get it off her chest. But she wanted to be held when she cried so she held on for a few more minutes.

Also it would kind of be a test to see if vampire Damon would even know how to handle her when she was like this. Would he hold her like he had when he'd been human? Or would he flee from her because she was falling apart?

When she was clean and hopefully free of the blood smell she got out and put on a t-shirt and shorts. She noticed that her reflection was almost unrecognizable. The bathroom mirror showed her someone that _couldn't_ have been Rebecca Stone. This girl's skin was pale and unhealthy looking. This girl's eyes were dull and almost lifeless instead of the usually sparkling emerald.

She'd lost a part of herself that night, a part she would never be able to get back. She'd seen two people brutally murdered. She began to hyperventilate again so she brushed her teeth just to give herself something to do. She was putting off the inevitable. Only when there was absolutely nothing left for her to do did she return to her bedroom. She took a deep breath before she opened her bedroom door.

Damon was standing on the other side of the room near the window and Chelsea's crib, and that stupid crow was at her windowsill; it took her mind off the problem at hand.

"Friend of yours?" she asked.

Damon shrugged. "Whenever that bird's around I'm usually not that far behind."

"Hm." That explained why it had been following her around. "Okay. So, uh . . . Here's the thing. I saw something tonight and it really bothered me. So much so that I'm about to have a real sob-fest and I'm giving you an out right now if you don't want to see that. But if you think you can handle a crying girl, I'd love for you to stay."

Damon sat on the bed and opened his arms for her to fall into.

"I dimly recall how to handle _you_ when you cry. Come here."

Rebecca wondered if he was being serious and felt a few brief seconds of relief when she realized he was. He was staying. Her somewhat calm façade slipped and her face contorted with pain. But she was in his arms and the ache was dulled by the simple fact that he was there. He still felt the same, his embrace was still soothing. That, at least, hadn't changed.

She'd half expected him to make a snarky comment and then disappear into the night; she was glad that wasn't the case. She needed this and she knew she couldn't really give him anything back, not right now, but she needed the quiet comfort he could provide, that he knew how to give.

Rebecca was almost silent when she cried. She'd had too much practice riding her pain from her dad - not that he really cared, anyway - to not be able to control the extent of her breakdowns. Only this time she had someone who was trying to help her by just being there. He didn't say anything, just like he hadn't the first time when he'd been human. Though Rebecca noticed he'd held himself stiffly for the first few minutes; he wasn't used to comforting people . . . It wasn't normal for him anymore.

Damon got the gist of the story even though she knew she was babbling on and on; he probably wanted to tell her to shut the hell up, actually. When she got to the part about the two murders she slowed down so he would understand why she was upset.

Damon didn't say anything; he just listened and she was grateful. She knew the two people who had been killed were probably just two more bodies to him, and she didn't want any sarcasm directed her way about this. She couldn't handle it. Human life wasn't a joke to her; human life was what she was supposed to protect and she hadn't that night. Two people were dead and she _knew_ she couldn't have done anything differently but it still hurt her.

* * *

Damon stayed with Rebecca even after she fell asleep. He listened to make sure her dad or aunt didn't come near the room; the last thing he needed was to get her in trouble. She had enough problems as it was.

He remembered the first time he'd seen someone killed when he'd been in the war. He hadn't freaked out but he had shed a few tears over it. He hadn't known the person but it had still upset him to see it up close and personal like that. He'd been a soldier and he now realized that she was one too. Different battle, different war with the same concept.

He knew from experience that the first few deaths were the hardest. It wouldn't affect her as much later, but he was going to try his hardest not to let her lose that innocence. Normal people didn't grow numb to things like that; not that Rebecca was normal by any standards.

Rebecca had said something about her Watcher and a shipment of books and he wondered what exactly was so important about them that Rebecca had gotten hurt for them. And who did that Watcher chick think she was anyway, throwing Rebecca into the fray like that? Rebecca wasn't immortal; she couldn't just get hurt over and over and live through it. Rebecca was lucky she'd only been sliced in the shoulder. Granted, the wound had reached to the bone and was bad. A few inches lower and she may have punctured a lung, and she wouldn't have gotten to him in time. And he would've waited 145 years for nothing. He would've lost it if he lost her, especially now after finally having her with him again.

Rebecca snuggled into his side and he studied her face as she nuzzled against his chest. God, he'd been reduced to a cuddle monkey or whatever teenage girls called it now. Rebecca looked peaceful, at least, but that was because she hadn't put her necklace back on and he was controlling what she saw.

No, he wasn't making her have sexy dreams, though he was sorely tempted to try. But, excuse the pun, he didn't want to mind-fuck with her. She might try and kick his ass in the morning. Something told him Rebecca could do a better job than Caroline Forbes.

Right now Rebecca was relaxing at the top of the Falls at the get-together place the high school students used. It was sunny but not too hot. Around seventy-five degrees. Nothing could reach her there, not with him controlling her dream.

He ran his fingers through her hair and let himself be happy and stress free. Even though other people couldn't see it, still waters ran deep. He'd always felt things deeply, which was why he'd worked so hard to shut his humanity out.

Contrary to popular belief, he hadn't always been a dick; he'd had to work at it. It was second nature to him now. Except, apparently, when it came to Rebecca. Though he wasn't exactly perfectly nice - he was still sarcastic and all that - but he wasn't itching to snap her neck either.

* * *

Okay, so, I know the demon explanation is NOT how the show explains how vampires were created, but like Diana said, there are plenty of theories and that was one of many. And then the comforting scene at the end . . . I just think that at this stage it would not be normal for Damon to be comfortable with comforting people, even her, because it's been a long time in between times that he's done it. It's not easy for him. It's one of the things he's going to have to work on. LOL. One of many. Anyway, this is it for this chapter.

Love you guys!


	16. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Rebecca slowly drifted out of her foggy dream state only to freak out when she found that she was pressed up close to somebody. What the hell? Someone was in her bed!

She sprung upwards faster than was smart and grabbed her head when it got all dizzy. Oh, what was wrong with her? And . . . Why was Damon asleep in her bed? Why was he in her bed, period?

Well, they were both fully clothed so that was good. And he was insanely handsome and, even though he was a vampire, he looked innocent when he was asleep.

And, oh God . . . Was her dad here? If he was, he obviously hadn't checked in on her because she would've heard yelling if he had.

When her brain began functioning normally things slowly began to come back to her and she knew why Damon was there. She'd been hurt and he'd had to heal her again. He'd held her when she'd cried; he'd remembered exactly how she needed - liked - to be comforted. When she was crying she didn't want to have anyone say anything because most likely it would just piss her off. She didn't know what caused that particular reaction, but there it was.

She took deep breaths until she was able to force the memories back to where she stored all the things she didn't ever want to think about again. She'd cried about it last night so that, at least, was out of her system; now was the hard part. Functioning properly. Nobody could know what had happened the night before.

"Damon?" she whispered; she didn't know if she should just let sleeping vampires lie.

"Hm?"

She smiled softly; he hadn't been sleeping at all, apparently.

"Is my dad home?"

"Nope. Neither is your aunt."

"Okay, good." She relaxed exponentially. "Did you want to crash here for a while? Bonnie's supposed to come over later, so it's up to you."

"You don't care that she may run and tell Caroline that you're hanging with me?"

"No. And Bonnie wouldn't do that. Besides, friends hang with each other. We're not doing anything wrong." She bit her lip anxiously. "How is that going, anyway? Breaking up with Caroline . . ."

Damon's eyes opened and he looked at her. "I fed from her last night before coming here. She's gonna have a hell of a headache today."

Rebecca was happy he was being honest even though there were some things she just didn't need to know. And that hadn't been her question, anyway. So she did what she normally did and just kept eye contact with him until he answered. That technique worked with a lot of people.

"I feed from her and I make her forget," he said, shrugging. "That's it." He grinned a little. "The morning after the first time she completely freaked out. I was just going to compel her to forget, but she started hitting me with anything she could get her hands on."

When he said that Rebecca burst out laughing. She could totally see that happening. Caroline wasn't good with anything that wasn't normal. She knew she should probably be furious that he was munching on Caroline but she wasn't.

"Um . . . I think you'll find most people would freak out after being bitten by a vampire. Especially when said person doesn't know about vampires." Then more soberly. "Thank you. Again. Not just for the healing, but for what came after."

"Yes, well, it was completely annoying. Don't do it again."

Rebecca knew him enough to know he meant the complete opposite of what he was saying. Not to mention he had a small smile on his lips, which meant he wasn't being serious.

"Okay, so . . . What do you like to eat that isn't, y'know, liquid?"

"I dunno, food?"

"That's helpful." She smiled too, feeling intense relief that she wasn't all knotted up inside. "Anyway, I'm going to go find me something to eat. Um, you can sleep if you want to. Or you can come with me to the kitchen. Whichever."

By that time, Chelsea had started making noises. She'd been alerted by their voices, obviously. She probably needed a change anyway.

Rebecca went to the crib and picked up her sister before the girl could start crying and placed her on the bed. Chelsea grabbed onto Rebecca's hair because it was long with one hand, and she began chewing on her other one. Chelsea looked slightly flushed and Rebecca remembered suddenly that before the whole spell thing had taken place that her baby sister had been warm with a fever.

Damon hadn't moved from his spot on the bed and Rebecca wondered if he was deciding whether or not he should acknowledge Chelsea's presence. Rebecca didn't really understand this Damon and she didn't want to ask about anything yet.

Chelsea had been wet and now that she was dry Rebecca picked her back up and walked out the room.

* * *

In the kitchen Rebecca got to work on scrambled eggs and toast. While she was cooking Damon sat at the table looking at something. A card, it looked like. Chelsea had a bottle in her hands and was seated in a highchair. A soft sucking/slurping sound filled the room.

"Did you know your family has been invited to the Founder's party?" Damon asked.

"No," Rebecca replied. "We usually don't. Dad works with the Council now, though, that's probably why." She sighed as she opened the refrigerator door. "I think he knows about vampires."

"If he works with the Council, it's possible." Damon got up and invaded her personal space. "Now, who are you taking to this thing?"

"I never even said I was going to go," she reminded him gently. "Do _you _want to go?"

"We can get it right this time around," he said. "You and me, what d'you say?" His eyes did that thing he was known for and she groaned.

"As long as you're not going with Caroline, yes. And that eye thing isn't fair. It's hard to say no when you do that."

"Well, that doesn't give me incentive to stop then, does it?"

"Fine, I'll go. That means I gotta get a dress. When is it?"

"Next week, Friday."

She glared at him playfully. "You better make sure I have a good time. I hate these stupid things."

"Fun will be had," he promised. "You need some fun, your life sucks."

She had to admire the bluntness of that statement. Her life _did_ suck and she did need to have fun. She also needed to tend to the eggs before they burned. Damon had distracted her, which he was very good at. He deserved a metal.

She fixed two plates - one for him and one for her - and they ate at the table. Damon didn't mention the Founder's party again; she figured it was because he'd gotten his way so there was no need to. The party thing wasn't so bad. If she'd really had her heart set against it, he wouldn't have been able to persuade her so easily.

"These books that were so important . . . What were they? You never said."

"Diana said they had prophecies or something in them, about the Slayer - about me - and other weird stuff."

"Weird stuff like vampires?"

"I guess, I don't know. She didn't tell me there were going to be thieves until we got there."

Speaking of Diana, Rebecca couldn't see her for at least a week. Diana didn't know about Damon or the fact that Rebecca was willing to drink his blood to heal herself, and Rebecca wanted to keep it that way. She wasn't exactly sure how Diana would react about the whole vampire thing.

"The thieves were muscle for hire."

"For who?"

"I dunno. Diana didn't say. The warehouse was in Richmond, though, so whoever it is they have to live around here somewhere, and they're going to be pretty pissed that they didn't get what they wanted. I was only able to stop two of them before security took over."

"Thieves were vampires?"

"Yeah." She sighed and reached over to grab his hand. It twitched, but he let her continue anyway. "I'm sorry. I'm not meaning to make your life more complicated; it's just sort of working out that way."

* * *

Damon didn't say it, but the complications weren't a problem as long as he could have her along with them. Besides, he'd been around a long time; complications were his way of life. They were nothing new; he'd grown used to them a long time ago.

He was aware their relationship was going to be hard sometimes - not that they were _in_ a relationship. No, he was just working toward one. The whole Caroline thing had kind of put a brief pause on things, but it was easily fixable. Rebecca wasn't the type to hold grudges, though she was cute when she tried.

Whatever. Point was she was a Vampire Slayer and he was a vampire; of course there were going to be some difficulties. Their very natures should make them hate each other, and yet . . . He wasn't even human and she was. That would be a problem if they let it be.

Rebecca was now in her room getting dressed and Damon was going through one of the Watcher's journals Diana had loaned her. He was ninety-nine point nine percent sure that he wasn't supposed to be reading this because he was a vampire.

Rebecca had left Chelsea with him in an obvious attempt of trying to make him pay attention to the girl. She seemed okay; she was on the floor, on some blankets, still drinking from her bottle.

Going back to the book . . . The Slayer he was reading about had been alive in the 1700s during the French Revolution. She'd been killed by three extremely vicious vampires. He noticed that after the girl had died that the journal entries had abruptly stopped. Had it been too painful for the Watcher to go on or had said Watcher just not cared?

This girl, this Slayer, hadn't made it past the age of eighteen. Rebecca was almost eighteen. She would be in just as much danger as the Slayer he was reading about had been in. Even more so if these muscle-for-hire guys were anything to go by. What if there were more where they came from?

He closed the book as Rebecca came back in the room. She was wearing a midnight blue t-shirt that had a V-neck and dark wash jeans. Her hair was up in a messy bun and a few tendrils of her honey-blond waves framed her face. There was a light glow coming from her lips - tell-tale sign of lip gloss - but other than that her skin was clear of makeup. She was beautiful.

She plopped down beside him and reached for the book he'd been reading.

"Find anything interesting?"

"Slayer called, Slayer fought, Slayer died. The usual. What exactly are you looking for?"

"I don't know. I want to know about these other girls. Something other than the fact that they're dead now. You know? Like how did they feel? Did they have people in their lives who knew their secret? Were they - were they like me?"

"What d'you mean were they like you?"

"You know, were they different? Did they . . . feel disconnected from everything, from life, from their friends? I mean, I've always been different, I've always felt like I've been out of tune with everybody else around me. I guess now I know why I felt different."

"Oh, please." Damon rolled his eyes. "You're the only person in this town I can stand. They're the ones who're crazy."

"I never said I was crazy," she said, glaring playfully. "I said I was _different_."

"Yeah, crazy," Damon said, smirking. Though he was of the opinion that what made her different made her beautiful. He'd been drawn to her in 1864 for that very reason. She was different.

She'd held herself more confidently than most women had back then and he'd liked it. But now . . . Now he could see her insecurities shining through. She thought the Slayer thing made her less attractive. She'd been normal, for lack of a better word, for 17 years and then she'd been shoved into the world of the supernatural. She'd tried to accept it, embrace it with grace, but he could tell she was slipping. She didn't want to be victimized by her circumstances, so she hadn't let herself be. She'd started training and she did her best to stay cool. She'd made it a part of her life since she knew she couldn't walk away from it, couldn't just ignore it.

He heard a car pull into the drive and said, "Someone's here."

"Probably Bonnie. Can you get the door? I have to put the book back."

He arched an eyebrow in agreement and she got up to go to her room. When he opened the door he saw three surprised faces.

Bonnie, Elena and Caroline.

"Oh," he said. "Oops."

Awkward.

* * *

When Rebecca came back out of her room she stopped in the mouth of the living room. Damon was at the door and Elena, Bonnie and . . . Caroline - uh-oh - were coming inside.

Elena and Bonnie were surprised by Damon being there; Caroline looked hurt. Rebecca was sorry, she really was, but she'd seen Damon first. And Damon didn't even really like Caroline, whereas he did like Rebecca. He cared about her in his vampire Damon way. He had come running when she'd called the night before, which at least proved he didn't want her to die.

"Oh, okay, um . . ." Rebecca stuttered. "Wow, this doesn't have to be as awkward as we're making it out to be."

There was tension filling the room because of the Caroline/Damon/Rebecca thing. Elena and Bonnie were shooting accusations her way with their eyes.

"What's he doing here?" Caroline asked. "What're you doing here?"

"Hangin' out," Damon said, shrugging and smirking wickedly.

"Hanging out?" Caroline asked suspiciously.

"Yes, Care," Rebecca said. "Friends do that, you know. So . . . And we were friends before he even met you."

Rebecca was being nice while saying those things because she didn't want to hurt Caroline's delicate baby feelings. But she was telling the truth. She had known Damon before he'd met Caroline - _long_ before. Speaking of Damon, he seemed to be getting amusement from the situation, and it wasn't even funny.

"You're not just _hanging out_," Caroline accused, hurt. "You're acting all weird." Then to Damon . . . "You broke up with me for _her_?"

The way she'd said _her_ was definitely insulting and Rebecca felt the urge to snap back, but she didn't let herself. She couldn't really say anything anyway because she knew what Caroline had said was true. Damon had done it for her, so he could try to be with her. So, really, maybe he'd done it for himself, but still . . .

"We _are_ just hanging out," Rebecca said. _For now_, she added silently.

"For now," Damon said out loud. Damon's blue eyes sparkled with mischief and amusement and he seemed to be waiting to see what Rebecca would do next.

Forgetting the fact that she'd been thinking the same thing he'd said, she said, "You're not helping."

He shrugged and waited for the drama to unfold. He was enjoying the fact that everyone was uncomfortable. Jerk. Hot jerk, but he was still a jerk. His behavior was not endearing him to her at all.

These were her friends; couldn't he at least try to be nice?

"Well, I came here to see if you were okay because of Bonnie's witch thing," Caroline said with attitude, "so I'm not leaving."

Caroline sat down on the couch and crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. She then proceeded to pout. Damon arched an eyebrow in amusement. Rebecca had to admit that the picture Caroline painted of a spoiled rich girl not getting her way _was_ a little funny.

After Caroline sat down, Elena and Bonnie followed suit and they began talking. Rebecca hoped Damon would behave.

Rebecca had taken a seat on the floor with her sister and the girl had reached for her automatically. Chelsea was on Rebecca's lap now, chewing on her own hand.

"So how was the game last night?" Rebecca asked since she hadn't been able to go.

"Jeremy got into a fight with Tyler," Elena said, "got knocked around pretty bad."

"Did Tyler start it?" Though Rebecca would've been on Jeremy's side even if he had started it. She actually got along with Jeremy.

"I don't know. We got there in the middle."

"Elena quit cheerleading," Caroline offered, still in full-on pout mode.

Rebecca noticed for the first time that Caroline was wearing a scarf around her neck; she assumed that was to hide the bite mark. Damon must've compelled her to wear it.

"Really?" Rebecca looked at Elena. "I thought you wanted to get back to normal." Elena had loved cheerleading.

Elena shrugged. "Yeah, well, I guess that's not normal for me anymore."

Rebecca understood that. Elena had been through something traumatizing, what with her parents deaths, and she needed to find out who she was _now_. Rebecca was going through the same thing but with different circumstances.

Elena began playing absentmindedly with a silver pendent that was hanging from a silver chain around her neck. Rebecca had never seen it before.

"That's new," she remarked.

"Hm?" Elena snapped out of it. "Oh. Yeah. Stefan gave it to me. He said it was for good luck."

"Hm." Rebecca moved to sit beside Elena; she left Chelsea on the floor to play. "May I see it?"

Elena looked confused for a second but she removed the necklace from herself and handed it to Rebecca. Rebecca noticed the fragrance in the necklace right away. Vervain. If Stefan had given it to Elena that meant neither Damon nor Stefan could do any of their mind tricks on her.

"Anyway, moving on," Rebecca said, handing Elena her necklace back. "Please. What do you guys want to do that doesn't involve us being here acting awkward with each other? The truth is I asked Damon to be here -" she didn't mention _when_ she'd asked him "- and I'm sorry if anybody has a problem with that, but he's not going anywhere until he wants to."

Rebecca had only made that little speech because Caroline was still pouting. Besides, that pretty much cleared everything up, right? She was letting Damon know she wouldn't choose her friends over him but that she wanted to spend time with them too. She was also letting him know she knew she couldn't make him do anything he didn't want to do and she didn't want to change him. If he needed changing, it was a decision for him to make. As far as she knew he was fine the way he was. Of course Damon was probably keeping things from her, but she hadn't asked him any really personal questions yet. He wasn't as open as he used to be and she didn't want to push him away by coming on too strong.

"Mr. Tanner's in trouble," Caroline said, losing a little of the attitude. "A few videos made it to the principal's office."

"Videos?"

"My cell phone," Caroline enthused. "One of his bouts of student harassment."

"Are they firing him?" Elena asked.

"Maybe."

Rebecca smiled. "Never did like that guy. Jackass history teacher."

That actually got a reaction out of Damon; his mouth twitched as if he were forcing back a smile.

"Gotta give you props for that one, Care," Rebecca said.

Caroline seemed proud of herself, and she was over her pouting spell.

The door started to open and then Rebecca's aunt walked in with groceries; apparently she'd been shopping.

"Hey, kids," she said, stepping in. "Becca, help me? Some groceries are still in the car."

"Oh, uh . . . Tina, this is Damon. Damon, this is my aunt Tina."

Damon stood up when she introduced him and took the grocery bag from Tina. So apparently he was going to be on good behavior now.

* * *

Damon Salvatore was nothing if not charming when he wanted to be. Helping Rebecca help her aunt? Charming. He had to make a good impression because Rebecca's aunt could potentially cause problems for them. Not as much as her dad could, but . . .

And excluding a split second decision, killing Rebecca's family would _not_ be a good option.

He and Rebecca put the bags in the kitchen and Rebecca helped her aunt put the groceries away.

"What do you do, Damon?"

"Well, nothing right now. I'm, uh, legal guardian to my brother. We just moved here - or back here."

"Legal guardian? Your parents . . . I'm so sorry."

Damon gave her a polite smile. "It happened a while ago, but thank you."

Damon looked at Rebecca, who was slowly relaxing since he was being not-evil Damon right now.

"You know, I can never catch her dad here so I'd like to ask your permission to escort Rebecca to the Founder's party next week."

"You're . . . asking permission?" Tina was surprised, Damon could tell. "Finally a boy who was raised right."

Rebecca smiled openly; it reminded Damon of why he was doing this. He'd never admit it out loud, but he loved making her smile. He had before he'd been turned and he found that hadn't changed in the last 145 years.

"Well, as long as Rebecca wants to go, it's fine with me."

"Yes, please," Rebecca said, cheeks a little rosy. "Is Dad going?"

"Assuming your dad is sober," Tina said bitterly, "he will be there."

"Hm. Where is he?"

"Council meeting. He won't tell me what's so important about those things. Anyway -" Tina's voice took on a teasing tone "- what are your intentions with my niece, Damon?"

"Mostly to show her a good time next Friday night. With school and everything she needs a little fun."

He'd gone with that because the alternative of _I intend to love her forever, which might entail her living forever_ probably wouldn't go over well.

"She has been a little down lately," Tina agreed. "I know her dad doesn't help any."

"Standing right here," Rebecca reminded them. "And I'm fine." She rolled her eyes. "I'm gonna go see if the others want something to drink."

As she walked out of the kitchen Damon heard her whisper, "Nicely done."

What? He could behave when he needed to. When it served his purpose to. It just so happened to work in his favor to be charming at the moment.

* * *

Okay, so I WANTED to have Damon have some interaction with baby Chelsea, but I don't think Damon - at this point in time - would feel comfortable with that. He's probably never had any experience with kids, so it would probably be weird for him. And as for the little scene with everyone in the living room . . . I so think Damon would get a kick out of two girls acting that way about him. Anyway . . .

Let me know what you think, as always.

Love you guys.


	17. Chapter 13

Okay, clearing something up, here. I know in the show Damon killed Mr. Tanner, but in this he obviously wasn't even at the football game where Mr. Tanner died. So I had to find a different was to get rid of him. LOL. And as far as I know, it's illegal for a teacher to harrass students and embarrass them they way he did in the show, so getting him fired seemed like a realistic way to do that.

Chapter Thirteen

Three days before the Founder's party Rebecca found herself shopping in Richmond with Bonnie and Elena - Caroline hadn't been able to make it. Rebecca was content with that; Caroline wasn't really talking to Rebecca or making eye contact lately. Rebecca was almost completely certain that it had nothing to do with Damon and more with the fact that a guy had chosen Rebecca over Caroline.

Back to the shopping: All three girls were looking for a dress. Rebecca wasn't picky and she was a fast shopper. She knew she wanted something the moment she saw it, and what she wanted now was a pale blue, silk-and lace number.

The bottom flowed down to just above her knees; it was one of those dresses that twirled when you spun - those were her favorite kind. The bottom was silky and it led to the lacy top. The top half was sheer and almost see-through; almost but not quite. The dress had a clasp that attached at the back of her neck to keep everything covered that should be covered.

"Ooh, that's pretty," Elena said. "But now you're gonna have to wait for us and you know that will take forever."

"As long as that's not a literal forever take you're time." Rebecca wanted to look for more clothes anyway; what with her new hobby she needed to extend her wardrobe.

"So . . . You and Damon . . ." Bonnie started. "Are you together now?"

"No," Rebecca said a little too quickly. "I mean . . . I like him. I just don't . . . _know_ him. Well, sometimes it's like he's _right there_ and then the next I don't even know who I'm talking to."

It was true. They could be in the middle of a conversation and then she'd say something and he would either find a reason to leave or he'd act distant. She guessed she'd need to get used to it if she was going to continue to hang around him.

"Hm. Same with Stefan. He won't talk about himself much and when he does it's only half-answers or sometimes even non-answers. There's just so much that's . . . strange about him."

"What d'you mean?" Rebecca asked.

Was Elena getting close to the truth? Was she suspicious of vampirism at all?

"Well, he shows up out of nowhere. Though now that I mention it Damon does that too. But anyway, Stefan . . . One second he's there and then he just disappears. And then last Friday at the game I _saw_ him cut his hand, but then there was no wound. All he said is 'I'm fine' and 'it's not my blood'. But I know what I saw."

"Hm."

Rebecca couldn't say anything without either lying or nudging Elena gently in the right direction. Or wrong direction, depending on how you looked at it.

"And then Bonnie's vision -"

"It wasn't a vision. I told you it was more a . . . feeling," Bonnie said. "A cold, bad feeling."

Rebecca busied herself with looking through the shirts that were in display. The girls would probably see the guilty yet sheepish look on her face if she looked at _them_.

She wished she could talk to them. She wished she could talk to someone other than Damon and Sheila and Diana about her Slayer thing. Yes, Damon was good to talk to about some things, but with others it was hard to tell if he was being serious or not. And Sheila and Diana were too biased to be fair.

And no offense to Damon, but sometimes . . . Sometimes she wanted someone human to talk to. Someone who could understand the way humans felt. She wasn't sure Damon did anymore; if he did, he refused to acknowledge it.

"So what do you think?" Elena asked Rebecca, holding up a red-ish dress that had flower designs on it in lighter red tones.

"It's pretty . . . It's shiny." Silky. Rebecca liked silk. "Have you asked Stefan to go yet?"

Elena looked down. "No. Not sure he wants to."

"You won't know until you ask," Bonnie said softly. Then, "I take it _you're_ going with Damon?"

"Yes, but only because he wanted to go. I was planning on being conveniently unavailable that night, but . . ."

"Are you going as friends?" Elena asked cautiously.

"Yes. Um . . . He is - uh, it's complicated. But he does want to be with me. It's just . . . I need time and I think he does too. I told him if he wanted to be with me then he couldn't be with Caroline. That I wouldn't be _that_ girl."

"So he did break up with her because of you?"

"Yes."

"Do you think it could get serious?"

"Um . . . Maybe. Define serious."

Elena and Bonnie smiled.

"Do you think you can love him?"

Rebecca flushed furiously. "Um . . . I think I kind of already do. A little. It's, again, complicated. But I feel . . . really close to him. It's crazy and irrational, but yeah . . . I think I kind of love him."

Elena shook her head, but Bonnie just kept looking at Rebecca. Looking suspiciously, like she'd never seen Rebecca before.

"What?"

"Who are you and what have you done with my friend?"

Rebecca averted her eyes. "What d'you mean?"

"You know . . . You're different. You've had to have noticed."

Elena nodded her agreement.

"It's hard to explain," Rebecca dodged. "I mean, I know I dropped out of my activities and all, but that's just . . . They weren't for me anymore. I'm just changing, that's all. Damon is a part of it. I mean, he's in my life. But for the most part . . . it's me."

She wished she could explain to them why she was changing but she couldn't; not yet.

* * *

"Hey, I have to pick up a few things at the bank for the Founder's party," Elena said. "Do you guys want to come with me or should I drop you off first?"

All three of them had the dress they wanted. Rebecca had nothing else planned for that night so she agreed to go. She didn't spend nearly enough time lately with Elena and Bonnie, so she was glad she was able to do this.

Rebecca had had the week off because Diana thought Rebecca was still hurt. She played it up a little so she'd have more time off. Every time she fought she could get hurt or worse so avoiding fighting seemed to be the smart thing to do. Actually, she thought, staying away from vampires altogether would be the smart thing to do, but . . .

"What're you getting?" Bonnie asked.

"A few family heirlooms. No big deal."

It started sprinkling then and Rebecca groaned. She didn't like being in a car when it was raining; some people drove like morons and were dangerous. The sky was starting to darken a little, too. Maybe it was going to storm. Then something occurred to her that had nothing to do with the weather.

"Bonnie, who are you going with?"

"Caroline."

Elena, Bonnie and Rebecca went into the bank together and Rebecca looked through a few items from a safe deposit box. Elena didn't mind; her, Rebecca and Bonnie were like sisters. It was mostly just jewelry, but there was also an old pocket watch. Only . . . It wasn't a pocket watch. Rebecca recognized it as the compass from 1864. Jonathan Gilbert's compass had been turned into a pocket watch?

As the three girls walked back out to Elena's car a clap of thunder filled the air. Rebecca actually jumped a little; then she laughed at herself. Jeeze, she needed to chill.

"Someone's jumpy," Elena teased. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing . . . Or, I don't know. Maybe something, I just don't know what."

"Okay then . . ."

Neither Bonnie nor Elena said anything about her vague answer, but Elena did ask her to come over the day of the party to get ready.

"Oh, uh . . . Yeah. I've got to make sure my dad isn't planning on me going with him, but other than that, sure."

"Cool."

* * *

When Elena dropped Rebecca off Rebecca noticed that the lights were off on her street. Great. As soon as she stepped in the house she heard Chelsea crying - screaming, really - and saw Tina standing up and swaying back and forth. Chelsea didn't like storms.

Robert was drinking again, but he didn't seem to be drunk.

"Hey," Rebecca said and went to Chelsea.

Her sister was teething now and had been in a fussy mood for a few days. Rebecca had gotten her some baby Tylenol for the fever that came with it. Chelsea had a chew toy too but mostly she just chewed on her own fist.

"Elena wants me to come over on Friday to get ready with her. If you don't want me to go with you, I'd very much like to go over there."

"Do what you want," her father mumbled. "It's not like you're really here anyway. I never see you anymore. Coming and going as you please."

"Dad, don't start, okay? I have a life outside of this house, outside of this family. I can't stay here all the time."

"Then how about any time. I never know where you are, I don't know what you're doing. There was blood on your sheets the other night. You tried to wash it, but the stain was still there."

_Oh, God_. Rebecca closed her eyes. She thought she'd been careful, but apparently she hadn't been. Why hadn't Robert said anything before now? Had he been waiting for her to come to him?

"I got hurt and I came home and laid down. It wasn't that bad and I'm not hurt anymore. I didn't want to worry you guys."

Robert was still angry, but he seemed kind of hurt and shocked too. Tina didn't seem to know what Robert had been talking about so Rebecca assumed that meant he hadn't told her.

"Well, how did you get hurt?" her dad asked.

"Uh, a few friends and I were playing around and I hit my shoulder on something. It cut into it but I'm fine now. I promise."

"Why didn't you come to me?" he asked.

Rebecca's throat tightened and her eyes began to sting.

"Because I didn't know I could," she whispered thickly. She was finding it hard to talk. "You're always at work and when you're not . . . You're always drinking. It's you that's never here, not me." She wasn't just talking physically. She felt better since she'd said those words out loud.

"And we fight all the time," she said, her voice beginning to crack.

Robert looked like he _knew_ that and he didn't say anything to defend himself.

"I didn't know it bothered you, you never say anything, and you never let me in. How am I supposed to know when you need me?"

"Because I'm your daughter!" Rebecca yelled and it made Chelsea, who was now in _her_ arms, start crying again. "You're automatically supposed to sense these things! If you paid any attention to me at all you would've noticed the way I've been acting . . . How different I am."

"If I had asked, would you have told me?" Robert asked, and the anger deflated from Rebecca's body.

"No, probably not. I just . . . wanted you to notice, that's all."

Once in her room Rebecca called Damon mostly because she wanted to hear his voice, but also because she needed to tell him about the compass/pocket watch thing.

Chelsea was still whining, but now that Rebecca had calmed down so had she.

"What?" was the 'hello' she got from Damon when he answered.

"What? That's kind of rude, don't you think?"

"And?"

She sighed. "Nothing, never mind. I called to tell you to be careful. I went to the bank with Elena today - she had to get a few things from a safe deposit box for the Founder's party; a heritage thing or something. Anyway, one of those things was the compass from 1864 - the one Jonathan Gilbert made."

"Well, I can go get it, problem solved," Damon said.

"No, you can't just take it from her house. She'll notice that it's gone. Wait until the party. Other people will be there, so the list of people who could take it will be longer. I'm pretty sure you can swipe it without anybody seeing."

There was a slight pause and then Damon said, "Did you really call just to warn me?"

Rebecca shrugged even though he couldn't see. "You have my back, I have yours. That's what friends do. You . . . do know what it's like to have a friend?"

"To be honest I had forgotten."

_That's so sad_, Rebecca thought, feeling her chest tighten.

"Well, I've been told I'm a very good friend. I'll help steer you around the curves."

"Friendships are curvy?" Damon seemed amused now.

"Metaphorical curves." She smiled a little. "I just meant that I can help you with the friendship thing, if you want me to. It's gotta be lonely and no one should be completely alone. So . . . How about it? Friends?"

Rebecca could imagine the cogs turning in Damon's head. He was probably wondering if she was being serious. She knew how he thought. He was probably wondering how someone like _her_ could happen to someone like him.

"We can try," he said softly. "I'm probably not a good friend for you, though."

What, was he Edward Cullen all of a sudden? She hoped not, because Edward was boring and stuffy.

"I think I should be the one to decide that, don't you?" she asked gently.

"Just . . . thought I'd warn you."

"Well, thank you." She smiled again. "We were _best_ friends once. We can get there again, if you'll let us. Okay?"

"Mm-hm."

"Okay. Now, Friday I'm gonna be at Elena's so . . . Did you want to pick me up there or did you want to just meet me at the party?"

"I'll pick you up there."

"Cool. Well . . . Um, see you then, I guess."

"Uh-huh."

* * *

Friday morning Rebecca found herself at Elena's. She'd brought her shampoo and soap and stuff so she could shower and get ready. Her dress was still in the bag she'd bought it in.

Right now she was in the kitchen with Bonnie and Elena; Jenna and Jeremy were upstairs - Jeremy wasn't going, but Jenna was. Bonnie, Elena and Rebecca were picking out their makeup; Rebecca was going with shimmery eye-shadow and a nude lip gloss - simple yet pretty. Rebecca hated excessive makeup. Some people could pull it off, she guessed, but she wasn't one of them.

Tyler showed up to pick up the stuff for the Founder's party, but other than that there were no interruptions.

"Delicate Flower versus Naughty Vixen," Bonnie said, holding up two different nail polishes.

"Tough call. Can we mix them?" Elena asked.

"Look at you, getting all pretty for you date. You seem happy-ish."

"I am-ish," Elena agreed. Elena had asked Stefan to go and he'd agreed without a problem. "Tonight's gonna be a good night. But don't let that stop you from telling me whatever it is you wanted to tell me as soon as you walked in the door."

"What if I tell you in the morning?" Bonnie asked, not making eye contact. "I don't wanna ruin the night."

"Are you moving?" Rebecca asked. "Or sick?"

Bonnie looked her way with wide eyes. "No."

"Then you won't ruin the night."

"Okay, but it has to go in the vault because Caroline will kill me if it gets back to Damon that she squealed."

"Uh-huh."

Rebecca sat up straighter. What had Damon been telling Caroline? Obviously it was bad or Bonnie would have been okay to talk about it.

"Apparently Stefan has a very interesting back-story. Do you know what happened with his ex-girlfriend Katherine?"

"I know they both dated her and that's why they have issues," Elena said, paying close attention.

"Yeah, they both dated her, only she chose Damon. And that drove Stefan mad, so he did horrible things to try and break them up. He manipulated Katherine, he filled her head with all these lies until finally it worked and she turned against Damon."

"That sounds like one person's side of the story, meaning Damon's," Elena said.

"I just wanted you to know," Bonnie said.

"Anyway, his past relationships are none of my business."

"Unless he's a calculating, manipulative liar. That is your business."

"Katherine was the calculating, manipulative liar," Rebecca blurted out.

"What?" both Bonnie and Elena asked.

"Uh . . ." Rebecca bit her lip. "Which nail pol -"

"Uh-uh," Elena interrupted. "What d'you know?"

Rebecca grimaced. "Look, I don't really _know_ Stefan, okay? But I do know the story behind Katherine. Just don't tell anyone I told you, okay?"

Both Bonnie and Elena sealed their lips and threw away the invisible keys.

"Okay. Katherine was a bitch, first and foremost. She only cared about herself. She played Damon and Stefan against each other. She used their emotions against them; she made them think they loved her. Um . . . The rest of the story is not mine to tell, but, long story short, Stefan accidentally hurt someone Damon cared very much about. Damon stopped trusting Stefan after that. One of the worst things to do is betray someone and in Damon's eyes . . . that's what Stefan did."

"But . . . If it was an accident," Bonnie started, "shouldn't he just get over it?"

"You'd think," Rebecca said. _Especially after 145 years._

"Wait, how'd you know?" Elena asked. "Something tells me Damon _didn't_ tell you."

"Uh . . . Damon can be open when he wants to be." Which was true when he'd been human, so she wasn't lying . . . Technically. "I know the story. When it comes to Katherine neither brother is the bad guy. They were the victims in that."

* * *

Around six Mrs. Lockwood called because the Gilbert pocket watch was missing from the collection of things Tyler had picked up. Jeremy had taken it; it was supposed to have gone to him anyway. He and Elena argued about it but, in the end, Jeremy got to keep it.

It was a little after that when Rebecca was putting the finishing touches on her hair - she was letting it fall in ringlets; it still reached her waist - that Elena called up the stairs, "Damon's here, Becca."

"Coming," she called back.

She put her silver ballet flats on - she had them in almost every color - and made her way downstairs. Damon was waiting at the bottom - he was in his usual black, only now it was formalwear. She smiled when he just stopped and stared, and she felt heat fill her cheeks.

"Hello, Damon."

When she reached the bottom he held out his arm for her to grab and she looped hers around it.

"You look stunning," he said in her ear.

"You clean up nice yourself," she replied.

Bonnie and Elena looked at them, amused.

"Oh yeah, you're _just _friends," Elena teased.

"Obviously," Bonnie added, smiling a little.

"Shush," Rebecca told them. "No more teasing."

She looked at Damon and nodded at the door. "You ready?"

"Sure."

"Kay. Uh, see you guys there."

Outside, Damon opened the car door for her and she slipped inside, tucking her dress underneath her. She was . . . a little excited and she hoped the night would be good. Or at least not a complete disaster. She knew _something_ would go wrong; it was inevitable. She wasn't pessimistic, just realistic.

When Damon got in the driver's seat she began speaking. "Jeremy has the compass. He took it and Elena didn't have the heart to take it from him. It _does_ belong to him. And he doesn't know what it's for, so you should be safe. Uh, I'll keep an eye out, though, just in case."

"Hm." Damon's face remained expressionless. "We have bigger problems. Someone is growing vervain, somewhere. Uh, Elena's necklace; Stefan tried to dose me with some."

Rebecca scoffed. "You two are so dysfunctional." She sighed. "I don't know where he's getting it. Uh . . . I know Sheila had some to give to me, but I don't know where she got hers either. But, as always, I'll help. All you have to do is ask."

Damon looked her way slowly and he narrowed his eyes. He was, again, probably wondering if she were being serious.

"Just like that?"

She smiled. "Yes. Friends, remember?" She bit her lip as she was prone to do. "I know you're not used to that anymore and it's going to take you a while to trust me again, but you did trust me once and what I told you before still stands. I won't ever deliberately hurt you. I still care about you even though you're different. It doesn't change anything for me, Damon."

* * *

Damon had stopped breathing for a second. She'd made him speechless; she had a tendency to do that because she was always honest when she spoke to him. He fought off the sudden wave of emotion her words had brought up; even though he had complete control now, _emotions_ made him feel out of control. They still led to hunger - thirst - because every emotion he felt was heightened. He'd not felt anything real since Rebecca had disappeared 145 years ago, and he was experiencing everything like it was the first time. It threw him a little, and he didn't like it.

The only other thing to do was to keep Rebecca out of his life, but that wasn't even an option. He'd waited 145 years, so to keep her out would defeat the purpose of why he'd survived to get to her again.

"So . . ." Changing the subject. "What're the Lockwood's like?"

"Ugh!" Rebecca's lip curled in disgust. "I can't stand any of them. Mrs. Lockwood is a bitch, Mr. Lockwood is a bastard, and Tyler is a dick. Though, with parents like his, how could he be any different?"

Damon almost laughed. He had never heard her be so negative about anyone. These Lockwood's must be terrible.

"Such language. It's not proper etiquette for a lady," he teased.

"Never claimed to be one," she admitted.

He felt her looking at him even though he was looking at the road.

"What?"

"If I ask you something, do you promise to give me an honest answer?"

"Depends what you ask." He smirked. "And that was an honest answer."

"Okay, well . . . What're you doing? With Stefan and Elena? He's a calculating, manipulative liar? Are . . . you trying to break them up?" Her heart sped up a little; Damon heard it. "Because if you are, I kind of ruined that plan. I told her the truth about Katherine; some of it, anyway. That she played you guys against each other. I wasn't gonna, but then I just sort of blurted it out."

"Well, that's . . . inconvenient," he muttered. He couldn't bring himself to be angry, though, not with her. He knew she was an honest individual. He guessed if he needed her to back him up with a lie then he should probably warn her first. Let her in, a little. She probably couldn't lie at the drop of a hat; not like he could.

Of course he'd had time to perfect his poker face. Then again Rebecca had worked her way into the Council in 1864 and she'd done it artfully. So there was a hidden devil under the angel exterior.

"Uh . . . Inconvenient?" Rebecca brought him out of his thoughts.

"I wanna make Stefan miserable." He shrugged; he hated his brother, Rebecca knew that, so what was the big deal?

"Yeah, but you're putting Elena in the middle of it and now _she's_ gonna be miserable. She doesn't deserve that. Now, I know I can't tell you what to do, but please _think_ before you try and get between them again. I mean, Elena's my friend, too, and I don't wanna have to choose between you two."

"Because it'll be her?" He should've known. No one ever put him first.

"No, it would probably be you. But I would resent you for making me choose."

She slid a little closer and Damon tightened his hands on the wheel so he wouldn't do anything stupid like put his arm around her.

"I remember how you were, how you can be, so I can be patient. I mean, it's buried deep but it's still there. You may not want to acknowledge it but it is. I can wait. But the moment I see it, you'll be the first to know."

He heard her chuckle uncomfortably. "Okay, enough of this caring and sharing stuff. Are you gonna dance with me tonight?"

He looked at her briefly and smiled. "I would never turn down a dance from the most beautiful woman there."

Her eyes sparkled with happiness but she still said, "You are full of it, but . . . The compliments are nice." Her eyes dimmed a little. "My dad's gonna be there. Uh, he's probably gonna wanna talk to you. And he's not as fun-loving as my aunt, so can you at least try to be serious?"

"I _do_ know how to behave, Rebecca." He fought the urge to roll his eyes. "You worry too much. I can get along with anybody when I want to."

"Yeah, when you _want_ to," Rebecca muttered grumpily.

"It would not be in my best interest to antagonize your father. He could make your life very difficult, socially speaking. And I happen to _like_ spending time with you, so I'll behave, okay?"

"Thank you," she said simply but sincerely.

He still wasn't used to anyone being grateful to him for anything. Granted, he usually didn't do anything to get thanked for. He usually just ate and left. Occasionally he would spend the night, sleep with the girl if she interested him in any way, but he still left first thing in the morning.

He'd never spent the night just holding a girl - not since 1864 anyway - that was for sure. He'd never felt the need to comfort them either; that was strictly a Rebecca thing, he guessed. He hadn't . . . hated it exactly - the comforting thing - but he wasn't used to it and it wasn't easy for him. Actually, like most men, he wanted to flee at the first sign of a sobbing woman, but the conflicting emotion of _also_ wanting Rebecca to feel better had made him stay that one night.

_Emotions suck_, Damon thought. _They're so confusing; no wonder I shut them off._

* * *

Okay, so this chapter was pretty much just a pre-date thing, I guess you could say.

Hope you enjoyed!


	18. Chapter 14

All right, EgyptianKiss wanted the dance scene, so here you go. LOL

Enjoy!

Chapter Fourteen

When Rebecca and Damon arrived at the party Damon gave his keys to a young valet and got a number thing so he would be able to give it to the guy to get the car back.

Rebecca grabbed onto his arm and leaned in close. "Can you even get in?" she whispered. "It's a public party but not a public place."

"Still need an invite."

"Hm. Okay then."

They joined the line of people waiting to be let in. Luckily Mr. and Mrs. Lockwood were greeting people as they walked in. Tyler was standing there with his parents but then he started making his way down the steps to Vicki Donovan so she wouldn't have to go past his parents.

Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Uh, what a dick," she muttered.

Tyler was letting his fear of his parents get in the way. He actually probably felt something for Vicki but he wouldn't act on it because of what his parents thought; he was probably miserable. She should probably cut him some slack.

Mayor Lockwood wasn't half as bad about being snooty as Carol Lockwood was, but, on the other hand, Mrs. Lockwood wasn't half as moody as Mayor Lockwood. And Tyler was caught between a semi-abusive father and a stuck up mother. Sometimes it made him treat Vicki like he was beneath him just because of his parents. _But_ Vicki put up with it, so it was partly her fault.

When Rebecca and Damon got to the front of the line Mayor Lockwood smiled as did Mrs. Lockwood. Rebecca they had no problem with. She was not a drug user and she didn't sleep around.

"Hello, Rebecca. We haven't seen you around here for a while," Mrs. Lockwood said. "Last year, wasn't it?"

When Carol used to watch Chelsea for Rebecca Carol had always picked her up from Rebecca's house, so that statement was valid.

"Yes. Uh . . ." She shook her head. "This is Damon. He's, uh . . . new -" sort of "- to town, and I invited him to come."

"Oh, well, welcome to Mystic Falls, Damon," Mayor Lockwood said. "Come on in, have a good time."

"Thank you," Rebecca said. "We will."

She and Damon walked in and Damon went straight to the bar. Rebecca was amused.

"Can you even . . . get drunk?"

"Uh . . . It takes a _lot_. I've built up a killer tolerance. Do you want something?"

"A little too early for me, Damon. Maybe later."

Damon got bourbon and he drank it slowly. Rebecca pointed out people as they showed up. Damon didn't tell her to shut up, so she assumed he didn't mind.

"Uh, Jenna - Elena's aunt on her mom's side. Logan Fell - annoying idiot from what I remember. You already know Bonnie. Uh . . . Caroline blabs about everything you tell her."

Damon smirked. "Why do you think I tell her?"

"Right. Moving on. Sheriff Forbes, Caroline's mom. If you fall into her good graces, you get to know her as Liz. Um . . . She's married to her job, her and Caroline don't get along. I think Caroline blames her for her parent's divorce."

"Divorce?"

"Gay husband."

Damon's eyes widened comically. "Huh. And did he have those tendencies _before_ they were married?"

"Actually, I'm pretty sure they were caused because of the marriage. I don't know who I feel sorrier for, Liz or her husband." Rebecca shrugged; she'd never really thought about it much before. "Anyway, Caroline's dad is never around and since Liz is always at work . . . Caroline tries to get attention wherever and however she can get it."

Then Stefan and Elena walked in and Rebecca smiled softly. "And there's your favorite person in the world."

Damon narrowed his eyes playfully. "Which world are _you_ living in?"

"My brain fantasy bubble. The real world sucks too much."

He let out a little breath of laughter. "You noticed that too, huh?"

"Come on," Rebecca said, sort of ignoring the question. "Let's go . . . look around."

"One thing first," Damon requested. "What did Mrs. Lockwood mean when she said she hadn't seen you around here for a while?"

Rebecca grimaced. "I went on a couple dates with Tyler last year. They were never serious. He was . . . grabby and aggressive."

She had never told human Damon about her two boyfriends because she wasn't sure that had been okay back then. Weren't women courted and married off pretty quickly back then?

She turned to walk away quickly and said, "Okay, let's go."

Before she could even take two steps Damon had grabbed her wrist to stop her from going anywhere. He turned her back around.

"Did he hurt you?" he asked, murderous intent in his eyes.

Rebecca shook her head, but she didn't look at him. Damon tilted her face up so he could see into her eyes. If she hadn't had her necklace on, she would've thought he was trying to compel her.

"Are you lying?" he asked. "Did he hurt you?"

"No, Damon. He just showed me that he wasn't what I wanted. He's just . . . a hormonal teenager. He wanted to . . . ya know . . . and I said no and that was it. I never went out with him again. I've told you already that the physical stuff isn't the only thing I want, so . . ."

They began walking toward the room with all the heritage stuff in it. Rebecca didn't really care about it, but . . . The music hadn't started yet so there wasn't much else to do.

"What would you have done if he had?" Rebecca asked, thinking she already knew the answer and she wasn't too happy with it.

Damon locked eyes with her. "I would've killed him."

Rebecca's heart stopped for a second and Damon blinked and looked down at her chest; he'd obviously heard it.

The way he'd said that statement - so simply, like it didn't matter at all - made her uneasy.

"Does that scare you?" Damon asked. "Because it should."

"It . . . makes me nervous," she admitted. "And a little scared, for you. Tyler is the Mayor's son; if he happened to turn up missing . . . Do you see where I'm going with this?"

"I do. But if he had hurt you like that, nothing would've saved him from me."

* * *

Damon watched the emotions play across Rebecca's face. He saw that none of the fear and nervousness was directed towards herself; she obviously knew he wasn't going to hurt _her_. He was sure she was just trying to accept the fact that he could kill so easily now. But the way he saw it, if anyone hurt Rebecca they deserved whatever they got.

When he and Rebecca got to the room with all the historical stuff in it he almost turned them back around because Stefan and Elena were there. Stefan was like a bad penny, he showed up everywhere, and usually sucked the fun out of the room when he did. Now Elena . . . Damon didn't have a problem with Elena - she wasn't Katherine even if she did look like her - but she was the person Stefan cared about. It was so easy to bother his brother with Elena.

_You wouldn't want anyone to use Rebecca to get to you_, his previously buried conscience whispered.

_Oh, shut it_, he told himself. _Turn off, or mute yourself_.

Maybe he was going crazy . . . He was fairly certain people weren't supposed to have conversations with themselves. Elena and Stefan were looking at the original guest registry and Elena had commented on the names Stefan and Damon Salvatore . . . And his idiot brother couldn't even say anything.

Damon rolled his eyes and led Rebecca to the other couple. Maybe he could help . . . For his own purposes, of course.

"The original Salvatore brothers," he said. "Our ancestors. Tragic story, actually."

Stefan looked toward him and Rebecca. Stefan immediately became guarded and closed off. Damon understood that; he usually had the same reaction when Stefan suddenly appeared.

"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past."

"It's not boring, Stefan. I'd love to hear more about your family," Elena said.

"Yeah," Rebecca said. "Let's hear about your family. What happened to them?"

There was a hint of mischief in her eyes, and Damon smirked. Damon knew the reason she was doing this was because she didn't agree with Stefan lying to Elena all the time, but it was still funny. Damon also knew the reason _Rebecca_ had to keep lying was because of Stefan and him. She couldn't really out herself without outing them in the process.

"Wasn't there something about the war and a battle and -"

"Becca," Elena admonished. "Stop."

Rebecca held her hands up. "Backing away with my hands in the air. But he _should_ tell you."

Damon watched as Rebecca and Stefan had a staring contest. Rebecca won because Stefan lowered his eyes. He obviously knew Rebecca was telling the truth.

"Well, allow me," Damon said. "Feel free to add anything you like, Stef."

Elena kept looking between Stefan and Rebecca; she could probably feel the invisible line that was between them.

"The Salvatore name was practically royalty in this town until the war. There was a battle here -"

"The Battle of Willow Creek," Elena interrupted. "I know, we talked about it in class. Confederate soldiers fired on a church with civilians inside."

"I didn't know you paid attention in history class," Rebecca said. "I didn't know you paid attention to Tanner, period."

Elena shrugged. "It's been known to happen. He asked us how many people had been killed."

"I . . . never really paid attention," Rebecca admitted. "Anyway, continue. Civilians . . ."

Damon heard Rebecca's heart rate speed up. She knew this part; she'd been there.

"The people that were there were believed to be Union sympathizers, so some of the founders on the confederacy side back then wanted them rounded up and burned alive."

Stefan, Damon, Elena and Rebecca moved to a small figurine of Fells Church, where the vampire had been taken to be burned.

"Yeah, they were a lovable bunch," Rebecca muttered in response to Damon's explanation. It was low enough for only Stefan and Damon to hear clearly. Damon remembered how she'd been so willing to help him even though he'd been making her miserable. He also remembered that she hadn't agreed with the plot to get rid of all the vampires. Burning them had been a little too gruesome for her.

"Stefan and Damon had someone they loved very much in that church."

"Damon," Stefan interrupted, looking at Rebecca. "That's enough."

"No, what happened?" Elena asked.

"It doesn't matter; it was a long time ago."

"They tried to help," Rebecca said softly. "And they were killed. Their own father shot them."

Damon looked at Rebecca and forgot all about his plan to mess with Stefan for the moment. He'd had no idea that still affected her so deeply. Of course, it had only been a few short weeks since all that had happened for her, it was still fresh in her mind. She'd had to watch him die; it was obviously hard for her to talk about.

"How do you know all this?" Elena suddenly asked. He knew the question was directed at Rebecca, but she seemed unable to say anything at the moment. She was biting her lip to keep it from trembling.

"I've told her a lot about my family," he said. "Stefan's the one who acts like it never happened."

He grabbed Rebecca's hand. "Excuse us."

* * *

Rebecca followed Damon out because she really didn't want to be in that room anymore. She'd been fine until Damon had brought _that_ up; she didn't like talking about Damon dying because she remembered how it had felt when she hadn't thought he would come back.

She took a deep breath and tried to soothe away the sudden ache that had filled her chest. She hadn't liked being reminded of that fateful day; in fact, she downright hated it. She was not happy with Damon for bringing it up.

She walked outside and suddenly she realized she was leading now. When had that happened? Damon was still by her side, but he was letting her decide where to go.

There was a small wooded path and she wanted the illusion of aloneness so that was where she went. As soon as she was deep enough in she started talking.

"I'm sorry. I don't . . . I shouldn't have reacted like that. It's just . . . not one of our best moments, ya know?" She stopped walking. "Watching you with Katherine all the time was hard, but it was nothing compared to what I felt when I saw you die."

Damon tilted his head just so and looked at her, interested.

"When I heard the first shot my heart stopped. And then when I saw you it was much worse. It felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest it hurt so badly. So, no, it's not something I like to think about. That was . . . the _worst_ night of my life. The only thing that could've made it worse was if I had lost you for real."

She wiped away the tears that fell and was glad she hadn't worn any mascara.

After a few more deep breaths she was okay, but she realized Damon wasn't talking. Had she . . . said something wrong? Though, maybe, it was just him; whenever she said something like that to him he usually never said anything back. He couldn't find the words, maybe?

"Um . . . I'm good now. I said more than I should have, but that's just me, ya know? So now we can . . . go . . ."

She trailed off because Damon had cupped her face with his hands. He was looking at her with the softest expression. She had obviously touched the human part of him with what she'd said.

"We can go back to being _just _friends tomorrow," he said. "But right now there's one thing I have to do."

He leaned down a little, giving her time to back away but she didn't. When his lips touched hers she was pleased to find that he kissed her the same as he had when he'd been human. It was still soft and sweet and tender, and it still felt wonderful.

Her stomach filled with butterflies and she wrapped her arms around his neck; his arms found their way around her waist. He had pulled her body to his, not that she minded, and she was suddenly having a hard time remembering how to breathe. It was a very interesting effect he had on her.

Her heart stuttered a little and he pulled away. She saw his eyes were wickedly amused.

"Heart gives me away, huh?"

"Just a little bit," he said.

She felt his breath on her lips and she trembled. She kissed him once more and then just enjoyed their embrace. She could hear Damon grinding his teeth for some reason. He wasn't . . . losing control, was he?

"When's the last time you fed?" she whispered.

"Earlier."

"Hm . . . Then what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" She looked up at him. "Really?"

His eyes had yet to turn red, but she could see the beginning's of veins coming on. They were very light but still noticeable.

"It's me, isn't it?" She caressed his cheek gently and felt a little guilty. "I make you feel out of control."

"No. You just make me _feel_."

Her breath hitched at the raw honesty in his voice. One of the _real_ things he'd said since she'd been back.

"Um . . . Sorry?" she asked, laughing. "I don't know what I'm supposed to say to that."

Once Damon's face was normal again he grabbed her hand and kissed the tips of her fingers softly and she melted on the spot. When she saw the devilish glint in his eyes she knew he'd done it on purpose. He knew he had that effect on her and he was using it against her.

_God, I am so screwed_, she thought.

He had so much power over her and it had nothing to do with mind compulsion; he just had her hooked, period, because of who he could be if he let himself. Like this moment they'd just had. She would cherish it until the next one came along.

"You are going to make my life very difficult," he said softly. "I see that now."

He wasn't being mean when he said it; Rebecca thought he only said it because it was true.

"Oh." She pretended to start to leave and, "Well, I can go and then -"

"Uh-uh." He pulled her back. "You're not goin' anywhere."

Her back hit his chest firmly when he pulled her to him and she laughed a little when his arms came back around her possessively.

"Come on, you," she said. "You promised to dance with me."

* * *

Damon loved watching Rebecca when she was dancing. During one song he'd surprised her by dipping her and she'd automatically wrapped a leg around him to balance herself. Her emerald eyes had sparkled when he'd brought her back up and she'd grabbed onto his arms.

"Warn me next time," she whispered.

"The look on your face wouldn't have been as funny if I had warned you."

"Not funny."

Once the song was over, she took a few breaths. Damon saw that Rebecca's face and neck were flushed from exertion.

"Need a break?"

"Yup. I don't have endless stamina."

Rebecca looked around and saw that Stefan was talking with Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline. She was just going to go say hi and get a drink.

"What'd we miss?" Damon asked.

"Just . . . Chatting," Stefan said, holding up a glass of champagne. "Drink, Damon?"

"No thanks, I'll pass."

Hm . . . Maybe . . . She could try something.

"I'll take it," Rebecca said.

Stefan smiled softly and Rebecca reached for the glass. She very deliberately hit his hand and a few drops spilled over the top of the glass and hit his skin. The champagne glass began to slip and Rebecca grabbed it; Stefan yanked his hand back. There had been a slight hiss when the liquid had touched him. Vervain.

Elena and Bonnie watched Stefan's reaction with interest; Rebecca put the glass down on a nearby table and then crossed her arms defiantly. She resisted the urge to stick her tongue out and go _ha_!; Damon's demeanor had changed as soon as Stefan had spoken. His shoulders had tensed and his eyes had turned cold, but seeing Rebecca do that had helped him relax a little.

"Stefan, what happened?" Elena asked. "You okay?"

"Yeah, uh . . . Just got some drink on my hand."

Rebecca figured she'd done her job and she _did_ want something to drink so she walked away to search for something other than vervain laced champagne.

"That was a slick move back there. Maybe there's something naughty in you after all," Damon teased; now that they weren't near Stefan he seemed to be himself again.

He'd followed her, but she'd known he would.

"That was not me being naughty. I warned him before that I take care of what's mine. And I don't take it lightly when someone threatens someone I care about. Why's he trying to poison you, anyway?"

"Caroline. He told me she doesn't exist for me feed on whenever I want to."

Rebecca stopped walking and turned around. "Is he for real? How quickly he forgets what he was."

Damon really looked at her - he was examining her expression. "This is really pissing you off, isn't it?"

"Well, yeah. I mean I just think it's very hypocritical of him to think he can judge you at all when he was way worse. Someone should remind him."

"Good idea. Why don't you do it? He might actually care if _you_ say it."

"Well, no, I don't intentionally hurt people for no reason. Tonight was just a reminder of whose side I'm on. I mean, I was there. You know? Stefan can act as high and mighty as he wants to around Elena because she doesn't know what he was like, or anything about it, really. But I _was_ there and I know who the better brother is. Who the better _man_ is. I mean, seriously, you don't learn that type of darkness; it's ingrained somewhere somehow. I bet if he'd stayed human he'd have pulled a Dahmer or something and you'd have found ass in the fridge one day."

Rebecca watched as Damon processed that information and was surprised when he lowered his head. He wouldn't meet her eyes now. She'd expected a few chuckles at least, because _that_ had been funny.

"Damon?"

"Becca -" he mimicked, and then took a deep breath. "Okay, I think I need to explain something to you. I'm what they call the bad guy."

"But that's not all there is to you, Damon. You're different when you're with me. You're not bad all the time . . . You just have _vampire_ urges." She'd whispered the V word, considering where they were. "But that's normal because you _are_ one."

She was sure it was okay to have different rules for vampires than for humans since humans weren't as volatile. Yes, they had a snapping point, but . . . they didn't snap as easily.

"And the way you are with _me_ has nothing to do with how you are with everyone else. You're good with me."

"Hm."

Rebecca grabbed a glass of white wine off of a waiter's tray and sipped. She was slightly breathless from speaking so passionately about _that_. If there was one thing she hated it was people being hypocritical; and the thing was, she didn't know if Stefan even knew he was doing it. And if he did, then she knew it was because he was trying to warn Elena about Damon without really telling her their secret, but still . . . The point was the same. Stefan wasn't completely innocent in this; he shouldn't push the blame on Damon just to get the attention off of himself.

"If you hadn't met me when I was human -" he whispered dramatically "- would you have still liked me?"

Rebecca smiled a little at the subject change. "Definitely. You . . . Uh . . . How do I put this? You are different from everyone else; I've never met anyone like you. I mean, sure, when we first met you infuriated me with all the disappearing without a word, but yeah . . . I would've liked you once I got to know you. It probably would've just taken longer."

She smiled up at him. "You know . . . Stefan told me you weren't as bad this time around. So when he does what he does . . . He's just looking out for Elena. You'd do the same for me."

Damon looked at her like she was nuts. She _had_ just gone from bad mouthing his brother to defending him. Sometimes even she didn't understand the way her mind worked.

* * *

Damon was caught between being confused at her sudden train of thought and wondering if Stefan had really said that. Though Rebecca had no reason to lie and he probably would've caught her in a fib anyway.

"How is that anyway?" she asked. "Do you still remember everything from before?"

"Before . . . you?" Damon waited for her confirmation. "No. It's like I know I _had_ those memories, they're just not there anymore. Now all I remember are the things that happened with you, but yes, I think I was probably much worse before."

"Because you were evil?"

Damon loved how Rebecca could ask questions like that and not have any judgment in her voice. Mostly all he heard was curiosity. Like she honestly cared about him and honestly wanted to know so she could understand him better. And she did, he knew she did, which was why he kept reminding himself not to take advantage of her kindness.

"Because I was unhappy," he admitted softly. "And I wanted everyone else to be unhappy with me. Misery loves company and all that. I was selfish; I still am."

Rebecca didn't say anything to that. Her eyes widened a little, though, and she handed him her drink. She gestured off to the side and he saw her dad coming toward them.

_Whoops, time to be good behavior Damon_, he thought. Not that he'd been misbehaving anyway.

When he took in Robert he saw that the man actually looked sober. Not happy, but sober. Her dad stopped in front of them. Robert was taking him in - probably wondering if he was good enough for Rebecca.

"Rebecca, who's your date?" Robert asked.

"Uh . . . Damon Salvatore. Damon, this is my dad."

Damon shook Robert's hand and fought the urge to crush it; he knew how Robert treated Rebecca and he didn't like it.

"Salvatore? You're related to Zach?"

"Zach's my uncle." Well, technically Zach was his nephew but the town thought otherwise.

"Hm. Are you the same Damon that dropped Rebecca off the night Vicki Donovan was attacked?"

"Yes. I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself that night, but it was late and Rebecca was upset. It wasn't the right time."

"How did you two meet?"

"At the Grill. She literally ran into me." _Or I made her run into me_, he added silently.

"Love at first crash, huh?" Robert asked, part cynical and part teasing.

Damon smiled when Rebecca groaned. "Dad!"

Then Damon noticed something was off with the two - an awkward sort of tension. Both Robert and Rebecca were trying to act normally, but their eyes were careful. What had happened there?

"I saw you dancing earlier," Robert said to Rebecca. "You looked great out there."

Rebecca looked at Damon. "It's all in the leading."

Damon grinned like an idiot - or that's what he felt like anyway. "Don't be modest. You're a terrific dancer."

Damon still wasn't used to the carefree happiness being around Rebecca brought him. He could be open - sort of - with her without any fear of judgment or persecution, without the fear of rejection.

He had never put much stock in the whole 'talking things over makes you feel better' garbage, but it did help. At least he _had_ someone to talk to now. And he'd rather tell Rebecca the truth than lead her to believe he was something he wasn't. Not like Stefan was doing with Elena. What was up with that, anyway? Elena would find out eventually and she would realize all Stefan had been doing was lying the whole time.

_And why do I care_? Damon asked himself. _Oh yeah, because Rebecca has opened up something inside me that's been shut since the last time I saw her_.

Damn it.

* * *

Later that night, after Rebecca had put up with her dad with Damon, Rebecca hung out with Elena and Bonnie. Caroline still wasn't really talkingto her. Elena had gotten into a fight with Stefan because he was being secretive again. He wasn't willing to talk about himself at all.

"It's my fault," Bonnie said. "I planted doubt; I'm a doubt planter."

"It's not your fault," Rebecca said. "Stefan's just . . . guarded."

"I got all snooty," Elena said, pouting. "I just . . . I want to know him, ya know? But he won't let me in. I just . . . It's hard to get close to him when he won't open up."

Rebecca touched Elena's arm. "Well, _tell_ him that. Give him an ultimatum. He talks to you or he can't have you."

"I don't want him to not have me."

Rebecca bit her lip. She didn't know what to do. She wanted Elena to know about Stefan so Rebecca, in turn, could tell her about herself. But she knew she couldn't really say anything without outing Damon, too, and she wouldn't do that. Plus, _Stefan_ was Elena's boyfriend - he needed to be the one to tell her.

"Did you fight because of me and Damon?" Rebecca asked, guilt nagging at her. If she had caused problems for Elena then she needed to apologize. And after all her talking to Damon about getting between Elena and Stefan . . . She had helped that night and not because Damon had asked her to.

"No. It was just Stefan not wanting to talk. I got mad and . . . stormed away."

"Oh."

Rebecca was relieved; she knew she had acted rather overly earlier - not like herself at all. She didn't even know where that reaction had come from; she just hadn't liked the fact that Stefan had been threatening Damon. She'd become protective, which was ridiculous because Damon was a vampire and could take care of himself. He had been doing it for 145 years.

But it was that very reason that made her want to care for him. He must have been lonely and miserable and she wanted to change that for him. She didn't want him to be alone anymore - he didn't have to be. And she could make him happy if he let her.

Rebecca was pulled out of her thoughts when Mrs. Lockwood sat down and began talking.

"Elena, honey, I noticed the pocket watch still isn't in the collection."

"Oh." Elena had been taken by surprise. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Lockwood. I couldn't find it. I guess it's still packed away in my parents stuff somewhere."

"I see." Mrs. Lockwood put on a fake smile and it made Rebecca irrationally angry. "Well, please let me know if you do find it."

"Okay."

Rebecca was relieved when she went away. She didn't know what was wrong. PMS, maybe?

"You look like you just sucked on a lemon," Bonnie said. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," Rebecca said honestly. "I just . . . saw her and it pissed me off. I'm okay now."

"That's . . . weird," Elena said suspiciously. "Anyway, I have to go to the bathroom, so . . ."

"Yeah."

Bonnie and Rebecca sat there chatting for a few minutes until Bonnie sort of went into a trance-like state. Rebecca even snapped her fingers in front of her to try to wake her up, but nothing worked. Bonnie got up, began walking and Rebecca hesitantly followed her. They were going upstairs, though technically they weren't really allowed up there.

"Bonnie, we're gonna get in trouble."

Rebecca followed her, anyway, to a small room. There were more antiques up here; the ones that weren't important enough to be put on display.

Bonnie went directly to a desk that had a wooden box on it. She opened the box, found a hidden compartment and took out an old pendent thing, amber crystal with a gold-ish setting.

"Uh . . . Bonnie?"

"You can't let them out," she said, only it wasn't Bonnie, Rebecca didn't think. Yes, it was Bonnie's voice, but she wasn't talking like herself.

"Can't . . . what?" Rebecca grabbed the crystal when Bonnie handed it to her.

Then Bonnie came back to herself. She stumbled a little, but Rebecca caught her. Bonnie looked confused and when she spoke Rebecca could tell she was scared.

"Becca . . . What am I doing here? We were sitting down a second ago."

"You walked up here, Bonnie, but you were kind of out of it."

"I don't - I don't remember." Bonnie's eyes filled with tears and her lower lip trembled. "I don't remember coming up here."

"Hey." Rebecca pulled her in for a hug and rubbed her back soothingly. "It's okay. You're okay. Nothing bad happened. Okay?"

"No . . . I - I don't know. I've been . . ." Bonnie trailed off and Rebecca felt a few tears hit her bare shoulder.

"You've been what?"

Bonnie pulled away slightly. "I've been doing things . . . Weird, unexplainable things. And I haven't had anyone to talk to."

Rebecca could relate. She knew Bonnie must feel afraid and alone. Two emotions Rebecca was fairly familiar with.

"Bonnie, why don't you spend the night with me tonight? You can talk to me about anything. I won't judge or criticize or make fun, okay?"

Bonnie sniffled, but nodded anyway. "Yeah."

"Yeah? Okay. Then why don't we enjoy the rest of the party? I'll tell my dad that you're coming with us and you can catch a ride with him or Damon and me, 'kay?"

"Yeah." Bonnie smiled and hugged Rebecca briefly. "You know, _this_ is the Rebecca we know and love. Welcome back."

Rebecca shrugged, confused. "I was never gone, Bonnie. I've just . . . Well, let's just say you're not the only one who's been going through something weird. And I'm . . . I wanna tell you; I just need to find the right way, okay?"

Bonnie nodded and they left the room.

* * *

Once downstairs Rebecca put the crystal in her purse; she hadn't mentioned it to Bonnie because Bonnie obviously didn't remember finding it but, since she had, Rebecca figured it was important.

It was in the middle of Rebecca asking her dad if Bonnie could stay with them that night that Elena came in, fuming. Uh-oh.

"Becca, can I talk to you?" she asked.

"Um . . . Yeah." She looked at Bonnie. "You gonna be okay?"

Bonnie nodded, so Rebecca followed Elena.

"I need to ask you something about Damon," Elena said. "It's bad."

"O . . . kay," Rebecca said hesitantly. "What's wrong?"

Elena took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Has he . . . Uh . . . Is he hurting you?"

Rebecca laughed a little. Was Damon hurting her? That was absurd. She wouldn't have been here with him if he was hurting her. Rebecca understood Elena's question, though, because Rebecca had a . . . type. There had been Tyler and there had been Chase. Chase was the worst and he _had_ hurt her and since she seemed to attract that type of man . . . She knew Elena was only worried that she was going to get stuck in the same rut.

"No. Why?"

"Because I saw Caroline in the bathroom a while ago and she has bruises everywhere. And bite marks. She's all . . . confused and messed up in the head."

Rebecca bit her lip and looked away. Damn it, what was she supposed to say? She felt like screaming, she was so frustrated.

"So if he's done anything to you or . . ."

"Damon hasn't hurt me," Rebecca said firmly, looking back up. "Um . . . If you just knew what was going on . . ."

"Well . . . I _don't_ because nobody will tell me."

Rebecca groaned. "I _want_ to tell you. But it's not my secret to tell. There are so many things I wanna talk to you about, Elena, but . . . You need to talk to Stefan first."

"I tried," Elena said. "All he said was that I needed to trust him." Elena looked at Rebecca. "What're you going to do about Damon? You can't just keep seeing him."

"I can't just _stop_ seeing him, either," Rebecca countered.

"But he's _hurting_ her. He's obviously dangerous, Becca."

"Look, Elena, there's . . . I don't know, okay. You can't just spring something like this on me and expect me to know what to do right away."

Elena looked at her like she'd grown an extra head. "Not know what to do? You should stay away from him!"

"Well, where is Caroline right now? Did she say it was Damon who did it?" That was kind of sloppy, Damon letting her remember being bitten. Rebecca was aware she should have been more concerned for Caroline, but she was still alive so it couldn't be but so bad, right?

Besides, even Stefan had said Damon didn't kill needlessly this time around and Damon had no reason to kill Caroline; she was his food source. Not that he couldn't find another one whenever he wanted.

"She didn't say it was him, but I could tell it was by the way she reacted. And she went home; she was passed out by the pond outside."

Passed out? "Is she okay?"

"She was freaking out, shaking. I was planning on going over there later tonight. You and Bonnie can come."

"No. If . . . If what you say is true, I'm the last person Caroline wants to talk to about this."

"Right." Elena shook her head. "You're . . . acting strange. Ever since you met him you've been different."

"If you mean I've been happy, then yeah. Thanks for noticing. Anyway, I really gotta go. I don't wanna argue with you."

* * *

Later that night when Bonnie was asleep on the bed next to Rebecca, Rebecca began contemplating all the things that had happened since she'd come back from the past.

Damon had helped her a few times, so he didn't want her to die, at least, but she'd also noticed he didn't really care about anything else. Or, if he did, he had a weird way of showing it.

And the whole Caroline situation . . . Rebecca felt bad about it, she really did, but . . . She'd meant what she said about understanding that Damon had to feed to survive. Granted, if he was leaving bruises on Caroline he could be nicer about it, but he obviously wasn't as careful as he'd been when he'd bitten _her_.

Maybe she could . . . talk to him about it. Maybe she could either ask him to not be as sloppy or to find an alternate way of feeding. She would never ask him to give up human blood; that was his choice to make, but he could do it differently. Feed from more than one person, give each a time to heal before going back. Or . . . Blood bags. Human blood without the hurting of humans to get it.

God, she was . . . She _was_ changing. She was different. Elena had been right. The old her wouldn't have condoned anyone getting hurt for any reason, even if it had been Damon doing it. She realized she was rearranging her life to fit his and, now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure that was right. Because . . . Was it really her he was in love with or was it . . . someone she was pretending to be.

_I'm not pretending_, she told herself. _I'm just not the same person I was._

That was true enough. So much had happened that her friends didn't know about and _that_ was why they didn't understand her drastic changes. And besides, everyone let the people they loved get away with things they shouldn't.

Like . . . Taking them to a party and then leaving them there. But to be fair . . . Damon wasn't the only one to do it this time. Stefan had left Elena too. All this had happened after the Caroline incident, so Rebecca was sure they were just off somewhere fighting it out. She'd talk to Stefan on Monday at school, and she'd see Damon . . . Well, whenever he decided he wanted to see her. She didn't want to crowd him even if he did claim to be here for _her_. Too much too soon might push him away instead of bring him closer.

She wanted him to come to terms with who they could be on his own with no extra prodding from her. Okay, maybe she'd have to gently nudge him in the right direction, but other than that . . . It was all up to him.

* * *

Okay, I had to find a way to get the crystal in here without Damon being the one to get it, because I know in the show he needed if because of Katherine, and in this he doesn't need it at all, so . . . yeah.

As always let me know what you think. And Thanks!


	19. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

The next morning Rebecca woke up and took a shower to pass the time until Bonnie woke up. She found a little Post-it note on the bathroom mirror. Tina had taken Chelsea to the park; Rebecca realized then that it must not be _morning_. It was around noon.

Rebecca felt a jolt of possessiveness; Tina was useful but Rebecca didn't have to like sharing her sister with the woman. Where had she been eight months ago when Rebecca really could've used her? Rebecca had had to learn how to take care of a baby on her own; where had Tina been then?

Back to the present: Rebecca loved showers; they were relaxing. She took showers that lasted at least an hour. Or until the hot water ran out, whichever came first.

She didn't feel like dressing up that day so she just put on some shorts and a tank top. Bare feet, hair up in a ponytail; she wasn't planning on going anywhere that day.

Her dad was out again so she went about making breakfast - or brunch really. Pancakes, syrup, extra butter. The smell woke Bonnie up. Rebecca smiled and bit her lip to keep from laughing - Bonnie's hair looked like it had been through the wars; it was even matted up on one side.

"Rough night?"

"Mm. Weird dreams."

"Oh. I have those myself," Rebecca said. "Pancakes?"

"Yes, please." Bonnie smiled. "I'll get the milk."

When they sat down to eat Rebecca began talking about the crystal Bonnie had led her to the night before. She even went to get it from her room.

"Here. This is what you gave me. Do you . . . remember it at all?"

"No." Rebecca handed it to her. "It's ugly."

"It's old. It was with the other antiques."

"And we just took it?" Bonnie asked, eyes widening.

"Well, yeah." Rebecca shrugged sheepishly. "You were in a trance, Bonnie, and you said 'You can't let them out'."

"I did?" Bonnie looked down and began pushing her food around. "I still don't remember."

"That's okay, Bonnie. We should tell your Grams, though."

"No," Bonnie said firmly. "She's gonna tell me it's because I'm a witch."

"Oh, right. Do you wanna keep the crystal? You _did_ find it."

"No, I gave it to you. You keep it."

Another thing to add to the space under the floorboards of her closet.

After breakfast, Bonnie took out a candle from a drawer near the sink. Rebecca looked at her strangely.

"I wanna show you something."

"O . . . kay."

Bonnie sat at the kitchen table and stared at the wick and concentrated. Rebecca watched her, interested but confused.

"What're you doing?"

"Just watch, okay?"

Rebecca nodded and watched, like Bonnie had asked her to. And . . . The candle lit itself.

"Uh . . ."

Bonnie looked at her tentatively. "I did that. I've . . . I told you weird things have been happening to me. I just . . . I realized last night I could do it at the party. Mrs. Lockwood was bitching about not having the candles in the dining room lit and I felt so sorry for the waiter guy. I tried and it didn't work, but then I turned around and I saw a candle burning and when I looked back, they were all lit. Because of me."

Bonnie blew the candle out and she looked at everything but Rebecca. She was obviously scared of what Rebecca would think.

"Hey, it doesn't change anything, Bonnie. You're still one of my best friends. I don't care what you can do. I think it's pretty neat."

Rebecca was happy Bonnie trusted her enough to show her what she could do . . . And maybe . . . maybe she should show Bonnie the same respect.

"Okay . . . Come with me."

Bonnie stood up and followed her, but Rebecca could feel the confusion coming off of her.

"We're going to go outside for a minute."

Rebecca's backyard was fenced in with wooden posts, but there was an opening at the way back that led to a wooded area. She usually didn't wander too far in, but she could make an exception now.

"Okay. Pick a branch."

"What?" Bonnie asked, smiling a little at the request.

"A big branch that a normal person can't break off."

"Uh. Okay . . ." Bonnie looked around and found one that was about a foot in diameter. "Now what?"

"Try and break it."

Bonnie pulled and made a face when it didn't budge. "Okay, you're just doing this so you can laugh at me."

"No, I'm not. Now let me try."

Bonnie tilted her head sideways, scrutinizing, but moved aside anyway. The branch was obviously easy to break off for Rebecca, but for good measure she squeezed until the wood began to crumble. Bonnie watched, fascinated, as the wood pieces fell to the ground.

"That . . . How'd you do that?"

"I'm different. Obviously. Uh . . . A couple days after school began I started changing. I realized that I was stronger. If you look at my locker, my fingerprints are indented in it."

"Are you . . . okay? I mean . . . is it something bad like hyper-adrenal overload or something?"

Rebecca grinned and wiped her hands together to get rid of the leftover wood. "I'm not sick. Um . . . I can't explain everything, but do you remember that vision you had of me? Or the one you thought you had?"

"Yeah." Bonnie was hesitant again.

"I, uh . . . I know how to fight now. I've been training with this woman named Diana. I met her the night of the comet. You told me that I've changed and I have but there is a reason and I needed you to know that I'm not just going crazy, ya know.

Bonnie looked from the ground to Rebecca. "Does anyone else know? I mean, am I the last one to -"

"No, you're not the last. Damon knows and, by default, so does Stefan. Your Grams knows. Uh, but my dad and Elena and Caroline? No. And Bonnie, you can't tell Caroline, okay? She would tell everybody."

"No, I won't tell anyone."

"Thank you. I'm glad that I told you. I hated not having anyone to talk to."

"I get that," Bonnie said. "I do."

"I know. Which is why I don't mind telling you." Rebecca grinned and grabbed Bonnie's arm. "Now, come on, let's get out of the creepy-ass woods."

Bonnie chuckled. "Right."

* * *

Later that same day Elena and Caroline came over. The first thing Elena and Caroline asked was if Damon was there. Elena seemed happy and Caroline seemed a little down when he wasn't. Why? If Rebecca had been in Caroline's shoes, she'd be happy if Damon wasn't around.

Rebecca was extra nice to Caroline; and she wanted to see the damage Damon had done. It couldn't have been too bad, because Caroline had been able to cover the mark with make up.

"Care, are you okay?"

Rebecca expected Caroline to say something like 'do you care?' but she hadn't. Caroline was a little less exuberant than normal. Damon had . . . taken too much? Had he . . . been trying to kill her? Had Rebecca been wrong about him not needing to kill Caroline, because he couldn't just . . . do that. Caroline was annoying, sure, but that didn't warrant a death sentence. She was what Rebecca would call an innocent. An obnoxious innocent, but an innocent nonetheless.

"I'm tired," she said.

"What . . . happened?" Rebecca asked hesitantly. She wasn't only asking for herself; she needed to know what Damon needed to make Caroline forget.

"I remember the party," Caroline said. "And I remember Damon was behind me. He was . . . kissing my neck or . . . biting my neck. I don't know. I passed out. Maybe I let him bite me."

"Why would you do that?" Bonnie asked incredulously.

"I don't know, okay?" Caroline was agitated and Rebecca felt a jolt of sympathy for her. Damon should've treated her better and not left her traumatized and _not_ in a place where everyone could find her. "Can we not talk about Damon?"

"Yeah, sure. What d'you guys wanna do?" Rebecca looked at Elena. "Have you heard from Stefan?"

"No." Elena sighed, but Rebecca could tell she was angry. "All I got was a voicemail saying he had to take care of something and he'd explain in a few days."

"Is he okay?"

Elena shrugged, looking downtrodden. "I don't know. I just . . . The message was all I got."

"Oh."

The four girls talked the rest of the time they were there. They left around six-ish because Rebecca's dad came home and since everyone knew he had issues . . . they all made with the quick exits.

* * *

The next morning Damon woke her with a text saying he had to leave and he didn't know when he'd be back. And that was it. She'd asked him if he was okay or if he needed help and she didn't get an answer.

At first she just shrugged it off. Damon had other things to do besides spend time with her, she understood that. But then as the hours passed she grew anxious because he wouldn't just . . . ignore her. Not unless he had a reason, which she didn't think he did. She hadn't done anything wrong.

She left him a message when he didn't pick up. She apologized in advance just in case and asked him to please call when he could. She at least wanted to know he was okay.

Caroline called her and asked her to help plan this Sexy Suds Carwash thing. It was a fundraiser for the football team - Coach Tanner had been fired, which Rebecca laughed at; she couldn't stand the guy - and the players, the cheerleaders and some of the band were participating. Caroline wanted her to help with the flyers and things like that. Because Rebecca felt bad about how Damon had treated Caroline, she agreed to help. They met at the library and they worked on the layout for the flyers. Rebecca had brought her homework with her to work on after she was done helping.

Caroline seemed to be feeling better that day, at least. Though she seemed to be a little _too_ happy for someone who'd just gotten eaten. Rebecca kept her lips tightly sealed so she wouldn't laugh at how casually she had just thought that.

* * *

The next day at school Elena, Bonnie, and even Rebecca worried how Caroline seemed to be taking everything. Rebecca had texted Damon again to see if _he'd_ done anything, any mind compulsion, to Caroline because if he hadn't, then Caroline had lost it. She was just going on about her business like nothing had ever happened. It was . . . almost creepy. But Damon hadn't answered.

Stefan was at school and Rebecca couldn't wait to talk to him alone. She wanted to know where Damon was. She had to wait until after history, though she didn't know why they had it; the substitute had only made them take notes from the text.

She caught up with Stefan outside the school and grabbed his arm. He looked at her sympathetically. She wanted to tell him where he could shove that sympathy crap.

"He's not here, Rebecca."

"Where'd he go?" She glared at him. "Is he coming back?"

"No, he's not. Not for a very long time."

"What did you do, Stefan? Is he . . . hurt? Is he even still alive? Or . . . You know what I mean."

Stefan began walking and she followed. She wanted her answer, damn it! It might be said she _needed_ an answer. There was a very strong ache beginning to form in her chest and she knew it wouldn't go away until she knew what was going on.

"I didn't kill him, okay?" He had actually stopped to look her in the eyes to say that.

"Hm." Rebecca crossed her arms over her chest. "Are you lying to me?"

"No, Rebecca."

"Good. Then I don't have to kill _you_."

Whoa, where had that come from? But even as she wondered she knew the statement she'd said was true; the thought of someone ending Damon's existence, taking Damon out of her world, scared her and pissed her off at the same time. And the fact that it was _Stefan_ - bloodthirsty animal Stefan - didn't help matters any.

"Stop," Stefan said. "Can't you see what Damon's doing? You're a good girl, Rebecca, don't let him change you. He will destroy you. He might not do it intentionally, not to you, but it will happen."

Rebecca's eyes stung with tears of anger. "Like you destroyed him? I was there, Stefan, I know what you did. I know what you were, and then you turn around and judge _him_?"

Stefan looked like he'd been hit in the face, which was ironic seeing as to how that was what she wanted to do.

Instead she just shook her head in disgust. "You are such a hypocrite. And I want him back, Stefan. Whatever you did to him, I want him back healthy and in one piece."

Saying all she had needed to say, she shoved her bag up on her shoulder and strolled away.

* * *

When Rebecca got home she opened the door; it was unlocked because her dad was already home. She placed her bag on the couch and heard something clatter in the kitchen.

"Tina? Dad?" she called out, going toward the noise. And then she saw something she hadn't ever thought she'd see. She forgot about the noise completely.

Robert was holding Chelsea, cradling her in his arms. Tina was supervising.

"Uh . . ." She didn't really know what to say.

She wasn't sure what had caused this sudden change in behavior and she wasn't sure how to respond to it. She said the first thing that came to mind.

"Tomorrow after school they're having this carwash thing, so . . . I might go but I'm not sure."

Rebecca was surprised by the sudden rush of anger and possessiveness she began to feel. Why was Robert holding Chelsea? He hadn't even seemed interested before. What had changed? And did he really have the right to hold her now, when he had pretty much ignored her existence since he was born. What gave him the right to be a dad now?

But . . . Robert did seem to be content with holding the baby. And from the clear expression on his face . . . he hadn't been drinking either. He was genuinely enjoying this. That made her even angrier. He couldn't just decide when he wanted to be a dad and when he didn't. That wasn't fair to either of them.

Putting a dampener on her anger, she looked at Tina. "Do you mind watching Chelsea for a few more hours? I have something I have to do."

"No, go ahead."

Rebecca went to her room and took out the three books Diana had loaned her and put them in a little bag; she put the amber crystal in her back pocket. She was going to make two pit stops before patrolling.

"Hey, Dad, can I borrow the car? I need to drop off a few things at a friend's house."

"Sure." He tossed her the keys, which she caught easily. "Be back by ten?"

She looked at him strangely. Was he actually asking?

"Um . . . Yeah. By ten. Won't be late."

She left the house, confused, and drove to Grams' house. Rebecca was offered cookies and milk, not an everyday occurrence coming from her.

"Something tells me you didn't come here just to see me," Grams said. "What happened?"

"Uh . . . Bonnie's been talking to me about . . . her witch stuff." Rebecca pulled the crystal out of her pocket. "Uh, she went into a trance Friday night at the Founder's party. She found this and gave it to me. She doesn't remember it at all, and it really freaked her out."

When Rebecca handed Grams the crystal she noticed Grams was looking at it with recognition.

"You've seen it before?"

"This belonged to one of the most powerful witches of my family. I have a picture of it." She stood up and went to a shelf of photo albums. "Hold on."

When Grams showed Rebecca a picture from the album Rebecca had to do a double-take; she knew the woman in the picture.

"Emily," she whispered. "1864."

Grams looked at her sharply. "How do you know that name? Have you been having your prophetic dreams?"

"No. Uh, I haven't. It was that spell. I went back to her time period. I met her. I never noticed her necklace." Rebecca suddenly wasn't interested in her cookies anymore. "Uh, you should keep the crystal. Okay? It's a family heirloom. Bonnie found it. And please, talk to her, tell her what's happening to her. It's heartbreaking watching her and not being able to help her."

Grams just looked at her and Rebecca sighed. "She has to come to you, I know. Like I did."

"Yes. It's easier that way. When she's ready she'll come."

* * *

After Rebecca was done visiting with Grams she went to Diana's to return the books she'd borrowed. Diana looked at her shoulder and was amazed when there wasn't even a scar. Rebecca didn't even try to explain it away.

"I'm just lucky, I guess. My dad freaked out when he saw the blood." She began going through Diana's books and picked the first three that came after 1864. It wasn't just journals this time; it was books on demons and other creatures. "Do you care if I write some of this stuff down? I wanna remember what I read."

Diana smiled softly. "I would suggest it, actually. You _need_ to remember what you read in case you come across something and I'm not there with you."

"Okay. No one will see it, I promise." Then she brought up something she probably shouldn't have. "I need to ask you something. I need to tell somebody about me. I need someone other than you and Sheila to talk to. I need . . . A friend, a _normal_ friend."

"It's dangerous for them to know, Rebecca," she said sternly.

"It's dangerous for them to _not_ know," Rebecca rebutted. "They could invite a vampire into their house without knowing. If vampires get wind of who I am they will come at me through my friends."

"If you were to tell them, how do you know they wouldn't tell anyone else?"

"I know who I can trust, Diana," Rebecca seethed. "At least _they_ wouldn't have sent me on a 'risk my life' mission for a box of books."

"Rebecca . . ."

Diana looked hurt but Rebecca found she couldn't bring herself to care. What she'd said was true. Diana had made her risk her life for some books and she hadn't even apologized.

"Look, just . . . Think about it, okay? Please? I'm . . .when I'm around my friends I'm completely alone because I can't talk to them. I just want to be able to talk to them."

* * *

Patrol that night was fruitless. Rebecca didn't know if that was good or bad. On the one hand, yay, no vampires to hurt her, but on the other, she had all this restless energy that she needed to get rid of. It was like she was itching for a fight; it wasn't like her. Or . . . It used to not be her. But it was part of the new her, it was part of her Slayerness, she assumed.

She got home before ten, ate a small bowl of cereal, and went to bed. She didn't sleep well; she kept dreaming of seeing Damon die right in front of her and she couldn't even do anything to stop it. The last dream she had had her jerking up, grabbing her own chest like _she'd_ been the one to be staked.

_God_.

She got up and went to the bathroom. She ran some cool water over her face because there was a light sheen of sweat there. And she was pale. The dreams had affected her that much?

_Something's_ _wrong_, she thought. _Damon's in trouble, I can feel it_.

If she only knew where he was she'd go to him, help him. But she knew Stefan wouldn't tell her; not when he was the one who'd taken Damon from her in the first place.

* * *

Okay, this is pretty much a filler chapter to get to the next one, which I will be updating right away since it is a sort of continuation of this one.

Love you guys!


	20. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

The next morning Rebecca's aunt called her out of school because she felt so bad. She didn't understand what was going on. She was getting sick? God, she didn't need to be sick; she'd missed enough school as it was.

Her dad had to work that day, but her aunt stayed with her. Rebecca would've preferred to be left alone but her aunt was attentive for some reason. Maybe she just looked _that_ horrible.

Chelsea, at least, would be taken care of, though the baby didn't seem to understand why she couldn't play with her sister. Tina had taken Chelsea out of the room when she'd found out how sick Rebecca was, but she kept coming back to check on her.

Whatever. The point was Rebecca wasn't used to it and it made her uncomfortable, and being uncomfortable and sick at the same time was not a good combination. It put her in a bad mood and eventually she got up to lock her bedroom door so she wouldn't have to deal with her aunt coming in and out. Why couldn't her aunt just leave her alone to rest? She might feel better if she got some uninterrupted sleep.

And she still couldn't shake the feeling that her sickness - or whatever this was - had something to do with Damon's sudden disappearance. And she wasn't just being pathetic and clingy; this was a physical thing, not a mental one. Something was wrong; she just didn't know what it was.

Later that day Elena, Bonnie _and_ Caroline texted her to see if she was okay since she hadn't been at school. Caroline had been sympathetic. Rebecca couldn't tell if she was sincere since it was a text, but Caroline had been coming around; at least she was talking to Rebecca again. Bonnie and Elena had called to see if she wanted them to blow off the carwash fundraiser and came visit but Rebecca had said no.

She had other plans. Ones that involved getting out of the house. She was well enough to drive but her dad had the car, so . . . She called a cab and borrowed some money from her aunt.

When her cab arrived she told the driver she wanted to go to the Salvatore boardinghouse. Everybody in Mystic Falls knew where it was but not many people had ever been inside. Rebecca had never been inside but that was about to change. She was either going to talk to Stefan - maybe if he saw what was happening to _her_, she'd get some help from him - or his nephew/supposed uncle.

The driveway to the house was a little hard to find since the woods were overgrown there, but the driver found it and dropped her off.

"Here," she said, giving him the money. "Don't wait. I'll find another way home."

She waited until the cab was out of sight before she turned to the house. Rebecca remembered when she was little there had been a story about the place being haunted. Well . . . Now she knew -_ hoped_ - there weren't any ghosts, but there _were_ vampires. She had to admit, seeing the house now, it was creepy in that old Victorian way, and it did look haunted. Not Amityville haunted, but still . . .

She knocked and then saw this drawstring thing - an old-fashioned doorbell - and she pulled it. A man, late thirties or early forties answered.

"Can I help you?"

"Uh . . . Yeah. I'm Rebecca, I know Stefan. Is he here?"

"No, he's at this thing for school. You don't look well, are you okay?"

"Ha, I think that's the question before the court. Uh . . . What about Damon, is he here?" Actually, she _knew_ he was because she could feel him. She just wanted to know if this guy was in on whatever was going on, and if he lied then he obviously was. "I need to speak to him."

"He's not available."

"Not available? Okay, well, uh, you're his uncle, right? Zach?" The man nodded. "Okay, well, I happen to know you're lying, so if you could please move aside . . ."

"I'm sorry, but you can't see him. It's not safe."

Rebecca sighed. "Mm. Okay, we'll try this a different way."

She drew her arm back and punched him hard enough to knock him out. She was sure he was a decent enough guy but she'd tried being nice and it hadn't worked so . . .

She dragged him far enough into the house that she could shut the door. Then she focused all her energy on locating Damon. She probably would've taken in the décor if she'd had the time, but she didn't right now.

Her senses led her to a dark staircase and she paused before going down them. Why did staircases always have to be dark? Was it just to up the creepy factor?

When she reached the bottom she went through a small hallway and stopped at a door with jail bar windows. Wow, the Salvatore's had a dungeon type room in the basement. What was next? A moat with alligators that you needed a bridge to cross over?

_Whatever. Focus, Becca_.

Damon was in the dungeon room and he was sitting on the floor leaning against the back wall. He looked rough; had he been here all this time? And he obviously wasn't being fed; he was pale and he looked like he was wasting away.

"Damon?" she whispered.

A huge wave of relief went through her when he looked up; at least he wasn't dead-dead. But his beautiful blue eyes were dull, almost lifeless.

"What happened to you?"

"Vervain. Stefan dosed Caroline with it." Damon rose and walked to the door. "Uh . . . What happened to _you_? You look as bad as I feel."

"Thanks," she said sarcastically. "And I don't know. I woke up in the middle of the night looking like this and I knew something was wrong with you."

Damon probably would've commented on that if he hadn't been in this state of starvation. All he said was, "Are you gonna let me out?"

Rebecca bit her lip. If he'd been locked up for four days . . . He would be starving and he probably wouldn't be able to control himself, not even with her. But on the other hand, he was weak; she could probably take him if she had to.

"I want to."

God, but if she let him out, she was pretty much signing someone else's death warrant. Assuming he _would_ kill someone - and he probably would because he was _starving_; he might kill more than one someone - it would be on _her_ head, on her conscience. It would be her guilt to deal with.

"You have to run," Damon said. "As soon as you unlock the door you have to run."

Rebecca could tell if she had been anyone else, he wouldn't have warned her. But she was her, thankfully.

"As fast as you can, okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, okay. But you're just gonna chase me."

"The vervain makes it where I'm not as fast. You can outrun me." He didn't deny that the predator part of him thought of her as prey right then.

"Okay." She wasn't sure if he was telling her the truth or if he was just saying this so she'd let him out so he could feed from her. Or Zach.

She blocked the thought of Zach dying out of her head - she couldn't help him and get out of the house at the same time. The words 'collateral damage' pushed their way to the front of her mind and she winced at how cold and detached it sounded. Because he was a human; she shouldn't feel that way about him. But he had obviously helped Stefan do this to Damon, so if Damon killed him . . .

Damon placed his hands on the bars and she noticed the ring wasn't on his left hand. Stefan had taken it, apparently. So all Rebecca had to do was open the door and then get outside into the sun where Damon couldn't follow and she'd be safe. Rebecca reached forward and caressed his hand before she reached for the thick metal latch to pull it out of the lock.

It took her two seconds to unlatch the lock and then she took off down the hallway and up the stairs; she ran right into Zach and they both tumbled to the ground.

_Damn it_! She should've hit him harder. And what was wrong with him, anyway? Couldn't he see she was running for her life here?

"Move!" she said, getting back up. "Run!"

There, she'd told him to run, now what he did with it was up to him. She, however, began running again, down another hallway and toward the front door. She heard a sickening _crack_ and was sure it was someone's neck being snapped.

_Zach_. She felt a twinge in her heart as something broke inside her. Something was _wrong_ with her. She was willing to let people die? When had she started thinking that way?

_Damon_, she thought. Maybe he really was going to destroy her, like Stefan had said. Unwittingly, maybe, but the end result would still be the same. She wouldn't be the same person. But . . . No . . . that wasn't exactly right either. Damon was not the cause of her changing; her becoming a Slayer had changed her, made her harder in some ways. And her love for Damon made her put him first; she put the people she cared about before herself, that was just how she functioned.

Besides, Damon was the only one who knew who she really was; she had to pretend with everyone else. All of her normal friends wouldn't agree with the decision she'd made - to let Damon out - they wouldn't understand. Hell, she barely understood it and she was the one who'd done it. The only thing she understood was that she _needed_ Damon in her life, and anyone who tried to take him away was no friend to her.

Rebecca made it to the front door and almost had it open when it was slammed shut, and she was pushed against it.

_Ow_, was her first thought, because her pelvic bone had been shoved against the doorknob. Damon's hands were fisted on either side of her head and his knuckles were white against the dark wooden door. There was a soft growling by her ear and it made her heart beat faster in fear.

She held perfectly still, waiting for him to decide what he was going to do. She wouldn't fight him unless she absolutely had to. If he let her go -

He latched an arm around her waist and jerked her to him while the other moved her hair out of the way. Then she heard an almost pained groan and she felt his fangs sink deeply into her flesh. It wasn't gentle like the last time he'd bitten her. This was pure, unadulterated need and hunger coming from him, and it felt like someone had stabbed her in the neck; it felt like it had when Stefan had bitten her. Stefan had been behind her, too, had jerked her against him, yanked her head to the side and had just greedily drunk from her. Like Damon was doing now.

_God, he's gonna kill me_.

She let out a little scream and brought her legs up to kick at the door. It threw them both backward and Damon hit the wall. It didn't make him stop biting - he just bit harder, only now he was covering her mouth so she couldn't scream, or breathe really.

* * *

_Oh, God, yes_, Damon thought as the red liquid he was drinking slid down his throat and began nourishing his now-starved body. Starving hurt like a bitch. It made him feel like his body was on fire and not in the good turned on sort of way. And whoever he was drinking from - his mind had shut out everything but the fact that he was hungry - had the most amazing blood. It was so good. Strong, powerful, but sweet and addictive. Holy hell, was it addictive. All blood should taste like hers.

And he was drinking from a her - he knew that much from the scream he'd heard. And she was a fighter - she'd had the strength to knock him around a little, though he wasn't at his best right now.

He drew her into the living room so he could get more comfortable, but the little thing had some fight left in her and she grabbed onto the wall of the archway and refused to move. He growled a little, animalistic urges taking over, and pulled harder and squeezed her tighter. He could _break_ her if he wanted to, did she not understand that?

He heard a small whimper and felt satisfied when she submitted and let go. He brought her into the room. He moved with her, enjoying that he _could_ again. The blood was flowing slower now, with him controlling it. He wanted to savor this in case he never had a chance to taste anything as sweet again.

This one girl wouldn't be enough. He needed more. He'd been locked in the basement for four days, starving. Stefan . . . He was going to kill Stefan.

Just then an intense pain washed through him and he yanked away from the girl he'd been feeding from. She fell to the ground, barely conscious. He cursed himself for getting close to the window - she'd pulled the drawstring and the curtains had flown open letting in the accursed sun. It had burned him, offensive thing that it was.

"Damn it!" Though he was already healing, it had still hurt.

He took a few unsteady breaths and took in the scene before him. The girl he'd been feeding from was bathed in the sunlight so he couldn't get to her again. Her neck was torn open and still bleeding and . . . The girl was Rebecca.

That's who he'd been feeding from? Who he'd been so . . . rough with? He'd pretty much ripped her throat open and it was still bleeding; it wasn't going to stop on its own.

She was awake, barely, and breathing steadily, but her heartbeat was slower than it should have been. And she was crying. Crying because of _him_. Because he had hurt her or scared her, maybe.

For the first time in a _very_ long time he called himself a monster and cared. Cared because Rebecca didn't deserve a monster. She didn't deserve someone, who, when the chips were down would feed off the girl who loved him to save his own ass.

He watched her sit up and move unsteadily back against the wall. She was still bathed in light and he was still enshrouded in darkness; ironic, considering that would be the story of their life if they were to be together. But he wouldn't - couldn't - just leave her alone; he was far too selfish and he craved her attention - and now her blood - too much to go away.

He swallowed the leftover blood and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. He felt an unfamiliar prickling in his eyes and blinked a few times. He felt like crying?

_I do not cry_, he told himself harshly.

_You do now_, the voice in his head said. _Look what you did_. The voice was taunting him, making him feel guilty and he desperately wanted it to shut up.

Damon had a lot to feel guilty for and he didn't _want_ to feel it. But this, hurting Rebecca, he couldn't shut that guilt out. No, he . . . He _should_ feel that guilt so he wouldn't do it again.

_Ugh! This human emotion thing is for the dogs. It's stupid, pointless, and . . . Irrational._ He needed it to go away.

Even as he was thinking that, though, he felt a wet trail slide down his cheek and he wiped it away with the back of his hand. It was a tear. A _tear_. He hadn't cried in he couldn't remember how long, but now . . . This girl, this little human girl that he'd hurt so bad - bad-bad - had drawn that response from him. That couldn't be good.

"Becca?" he called to her and he hated the way his voice broke, that she could make him feel that way. Unlike he'd thought before, _she_ would be the one to break _him_.

Rebecca looked at him and he was immensely relieved to see there was still a fire in her eyes; he hadn't put that out.

She even smiled a little, though it was sad. "Haven't we been here before?"

Damon blinked in surprised. He knew she was talking about the first time he'd bitten her; he'd been too weak to resist then, too.

"Can you help me?" she whispered weakly. "Uh . . . Towel or first aid kit maybe?"

"Can you . . . _will_ you come out from there? I can't go in the sun, I don't have my ring."

"I noticed," she said, smirking bitterly. "Why do you think I opened the curtain?"

So she'd known he'd be hurt from it? Okay, well . . . At least she had _some_ sense of self preservation. He'd been beginning to wonder, what with her so willing to spend time with him and let him out when he was starving, knowing he would come after her.

"Sorry for that, by the way. I know it hurt, but, to be fair, you _were_ biting me, so . . . Back to the original question: Can you help me?"

"And again: Will you come out from there?"

"Can you control yourself?" she countered.

He took a deep breath to calm himself, center himself. "Yes. I won't hurt you." He'd had enough to take the edge off, enough to keep her safe.

Rebecca moved slowly and he saw the tentativeness in her eyes, in her movements. She was making sure he was being honest and not just saying that so he could finish her off.

"I'm not gonna hurt you," he said, somewhat impatiently. "Now come on. You won't stop bleeding on your own."

He knew Rebecca had every reason to be acting the way she was; he had just attacked her, would've killed her had she not pulled the curtains open. But it hurt to see her be scared of him; he'd never wanted that. He'd never wanted to attack her either, but the need had been so strong, his hunger had been overwhelming.

At least she'd protected herself and he could heal her now. But wait, he was only assuming she would want his blood after what he'd done. Well, he'd force it down her throat if he had to; he wasn't just gonna let her die. He _couldn't_ just let her die.

Once she was halfway out of the light he grabbed her arms and helped her up. He realized the reason why she'd been moving so slow was because she'd lost so much blood - he'd stolen it from her - she couldn't move any faster.

He immediately bit into his wrist and was relieved when she took his blood into her without much provocation. It took more than he was used to giving and more than she was used to receiving, but she took whatever it was he was offering. He knew it wouldn't give her strength back, but it would heal her and that had to be enough for now. Or . . . Hopefully it would be enough . . . He wasn't sure. Aside from the few times he'd kept someone around for longer than a night he hadn't used his blood to heal anybody other than Rebecca. He didn't know if it would make her feel better or worse; all he knew was it had saved her life before, 145 years ago, and it was healing her now.

He pulled away and watched as a trail of blood fell from her lips and down to mix with her own blood on her neck. He clenched his jaw and turned his head away.

_Not her. I can't have her. Not again, not now._

"You need to go. Now," he said tightly. "Leave, go wash off. Do . . . something."

"I'll . . . go wash off. If I . . . stay in one of the rooms upstairs, you'll stay down here?"

"Until nightfall," he said unapologetically. "You know I need more."

"I know that." She nodded. He watched guilt play over her features. "I knew that when I let you out, Damon."

He watched her get up and struggle to go past Zach, who was dead now; the only reason Damon hadn't drank from him was because Zach had told him he had vervain in his system and that wouldn't have helped the situation at all. Rebecca glanced at the body, took a shuddery breath, and then walked on by. He wanted to tell her to wait, tell her that whatever damage he was going to do tonight - and he _was_ damage-bound - it wasn't her fault. His actions would never be her fault.

But he kept his mouth shut.

He also wanted to call Stefan and let him know exactly what _his_ actions had done. He wanted to tell him that if anything happened to Rebecca - meaning if she died because of something Stefan had done - if Rebecca died, _Elena_ would die.

* * *

Rebecca was getting used to mixing her showers with blood and tears and that wasn't good. But there it was, story of her life now, she guessed. It wasn't pretty or happy, but it was real.

She cried softly, hoping Damon couldn't hear. He would never admit it out loud, but she could tell he'd hated hurting her - he'd hated that after the vampire part of him had been sated that it had been _her_ that he'd found there, hurt - and she'd wanted to tell him she didn't blame him, that she'd known what could happen when she'd let him out. It had been a risk she'd obviously been willing to take.

_God, I'm so tired_, she thought as she shut the water off. She grabbed one of the fluffiest towels she'd ever touched and began drying herself off. She had to sit down in the middle of that because she ran out of breath.

She put her jeans back on since they weren't dirty - only her shirt was, and she knew not to put that back on. She put it in the sink and ran cold water over it. She left it there. She stepped out of the bathroom - which was really just a small room without a door that was attached to the bedroom- with a towel wrapped around her and into the bedroom. On the bed was a man's button-up shirt - Damon's obviously - and on the bedside table were a glass of water and two aspirin.

Damon's way of apologizing, maybe? Whatever it was, she was grateful. She slipped the shirt on and took her pants back off. She got under the covers of the bed and took the pills.

Exhausted mentally and physically, she drifted off into a fitful sleep. When she woke up it was because someone was shaking her gently. She could tell it was Stefan from the feeling she got from him.

"Ugh, go away!" she muttered, turning away from him.

This was all his fault.

"Where's Damon?" his voice brought her out of her not-so-restful rest.

"I dunno. Out."

"He's gonna kill somebody."

Stefan's voice was urgent so she looked at him. She could tell from the look on his face that he'd found Zach. She felt sorry for that; Zach shouldn't have had to die, but he shouldn't have locked Damon up either.

"Because you starved him," she said. "He's . . . I don't know where he went, he didn't say. Now _go away_."

"You have to help me find him."

"I don't _have_ to do anything," she seethed. "Find him yourself. I don't _feel_ good."

She pulled the covers over her head and relaxed a little when she heard Stefan leave the room. Finally, Jeeze.

She took a few deep breaths, but it didn't help. She was awake now and it didn't matter what she did she knew she wasn't going back to sleep. She sat up and waited for her head to stop spinning before she stood up. She slipped her jeans on and got her phone out; it was after ten, so she called her aunt and left a message. Just a short one telling her that a friend had needed help but she'd be home after school the next day.

Technically not a lie; Damon had needed help, he was a friend, and she would be home the next day.

She would've called her dad to explain but she hadn't wanted to get into it with him. He would've asked questions and she didn't feel like arguing. So Tina could relay the message.

_God, Damon_! She kept coming back to Damon. He was probably out there eating someone right now. She hoped it wasn't Caroline, or, if it was, that he left her alive.

She went downstairs on shaky legs and stopped to catch her breath at the bottom. Stefan passed by her and she saw he had a wooden stake in his hand. What exactly did he think she was going to let him do with that?

"You're not gonna kill him, Stefan," she said weakly. "He's out there feeding right now. He'll be stronger than you."

"I don't care. He can't do this, not here." Stefan sighed and looked up at her sympathetically. "I'm sorry if he hurt you."

She glared at him. "The only times he's ever hurt me was because of _you_, Stefan. Maybe you shouldn't have locked him up."

"Maybe _you_ shouldn't have let him out."

"I had to!" she said sharply. "There's something wrong with me. I woke up last night and somehow I _knew_ there was something wrong, that Damon was in trouble. It was . . . It was making me physically ill, Stefan. Being away from him physically hurts me. Imagine what it will do to me if you kill him."

Stefan looked at her with his intense forest green eyes like she was a science experiment and she was suddenly sorry she'd said anything at all.

"Do you keep your necklace on when you're with him?"

"He's not compelling me to feel that way, Stefan. Notice I said physically and not mentally. And as hard a concept as it is for you to grasp, an actual person loves him."

Stefan grasped her shoulders and she grimaced a little. Either he didn't notice or he didn't care, because he didn't let her go.

"Look . . . I know you think you feel that way, but Damon will use that against you. He's been alone for so long he doesn't know the meaning of that word, Rebecca. He doesn't know how to care about anyone but himself."

Rebecca felt red hot anger at his words because he was talking to her like she was a kid, which . . . Granted, to him she was, but she still didn't like it. She was angry, though, because his words sort of hit home. She'd noticed how Damon was, how there were a lot of things Damon didn't care about at all. She, however, was not one of them.

"I know it's hard for him, but he could love very well once and I'm willing to wait for him to relearn that. I'll help him. But he's never gonna get there if you keep doing things like this. If you provoke him, you know he'll react."

She grabbed the hand that had the stake in it, twisted, and then shoved it into Stefan's stomach. He grunted and fell to his knees. She ignored the pain she saw in his eyes because she knew she would feel guilty if she focused on it.

"I told you once before that I take care of what's mine," she said. "Don't hurt him again."

She twisted the wood and shoved it in deeper and then went around him to go to the front door. She couldn't stay here; not if Stefan was here because she might do something stupid like kill him. And as much as she wasn't his biggest fan she didn't want him dead. Or not _really_ dead, anyway. The stake to the stomach had just been her getting a point across. Hopefully he'd understood and wouldn't try anything else.

When Rebecca opened the front door she froze because there was a fuming and afraid Elena on the doorstep. Confusion was added to the mix when Elena saw Rebecca.

"What're you -" Elena broke off when she saw Stefan on the floor. "What happened?"

"Um . . ." Rebecca took a deep breath and turned around to face Stefan too. "I stabbed him with a piece of wood . . . But he'll be okay. I didn't -"

"You _stabbed_ him with a piece of wood!" Elena exclaimed. "Why?"

"Um . . ." Wow, time for truth telling, she guessed. "Stefan . . ." Then she looked at Elena. "Why're you here?"

"I wanted to . . ." Elena took in a shaky breath and looked at the ground. "I wanted to know what he was, but I guess now I know. And I shouldn't have come."

Rebecca heard the stake fall to the floor, and Stefan began stumbling around behind her.

"Elena, please -" Stefan began, but Elena was already beginning to go back to her car.

Rebecca followed her and got in the car with her and Elena looked at her suspiciously.

"Are _you_ a vampire?"

"No, I'm not. I'm . . . take me to your house and I'll explain everything, okay?"

Elena started the car and they took off.

"Did . . . Stefan hurt you? Is that why you stabbed him? I mean, no offense, but you do look awful.

"Stefan didn't hurt me directly, but his actions did lead to me getting hurt, yes."

"His actions?"

Rebecca sighed. "Well, since you already know the vampire thing . . ." Rebecca grabbed the dashboard as Elena swerved. "Stefan locked Damon up and I let Damon out. He told me to run and I did, but I didn't get out fast enough."

"And?" Elena whispered.

"And he bit me." She looked at Elena, who was determinedly looking the other way. "I . . . got away. I drank his blood to heal me."

"He let you do that?" Elena looked at her now, surprise flickering in her eyes. Then she looked back at the road.

"Yes. Damon does a lot of things . . . Um, admittedly bad things, but hurting me intentionally is not one of them."

"Caroline?"

"He was feeding from her, Elena. He can't help that he needs blood to survive."

"But he was _hurting_ her." They pulled up to Elena's house but they didn't get out of the car. "He was hurting her and _you_ knew. You obviously know how to stop them, or hurt them at least. Why would you let him do that?"

This was the part that Rebecca was dreading; the explaining her actions part. She knew that to someone who wasn't _her_ it would look bad.

"Okay . . . If you were me, you'd understand, but . . . A few days after school started I began changing. Getting stronger, faster, and then I met this woman named Diana. She told me I was a Vampire Slayer."

"A -"

"Vampire Slayer. I'm supposed to kill them. But I don't wanna kill anything, Elena, okay? I just . . . I told Damon I didn't want anyone to die; since _I_ am what he wants it wouldn't be in his best interest to kill innocent people. He was behaving, sort of, but tonight he won't be able to control himself because Stefan starved him."

"And you let him out." Elena looked away, but Rebecca could tell she was trying to understand. "Because you love him?"

"That's part of it," Rebecca admitted. "But there's something, some kind of connection between me and Damon. I don't know what it is, but he _needed_ my help, Elena. And I needed him. I was physically ill earlier because I knew something was wrong, that's why I didn't go to school."

Elena nodded, taking in _that_ explanation. "That still doesn't explain Caroline."

"I told Damon as long as nobody died I didn't care," Rebecca said, almost mechanically.

"But _why_?" Elena asked, frustrated. "Why did you let him?"

"Because, Elena, human blood is the natural food source for a vampire! I'm not gonna make him give that up. It keeps him strong. He can control himself when he's not . . . starving. Even Stefan says he doesn't kill needlessly."

"But that doesn't make it okay, Rebecca. You should be stopping him!"

Rebecca didn't say anything because she knew Elena would react that way. No matter what Rebecca said, Elena would feel the way she did; Rebecca couldn't make her understand because Elena wasn't _her._

* * *

Okay, so . . . what do you think? I was going back and forth about whether or not Damon would've bitten her, but I was also thinking that he was probably thinking with his predator brain and not his man brain at that point and all he would've thought about was that he was hungry and he had a food source, and he definitely wouldn't have been able to stop once he'd started.

And Rebecca . . . well . . . I've never been dinner for a vampire - lol - but I hope I got her reaction right. She wasn't mad because she'd known that could happen, but she was a little cautious, and A LOT mad at Stefan for being the one to lock Damon up. So . . . yeah.

Let me know what you think?


	21. Chapter 17

Okay, this starts right where the last chapter left off

Enjoy!

Chapter Seventeen

Rebecca stayed at Elena's that night even though Elena was a little pissed at her. Rebecca crashed in Jeremy's room instead of Elena's. When Jeremy saw the state she was in - messed up hair, a man's shirt, and her jeans - he grinned a little, but then he stopped - probably because she also looked horrible; pale and weak.

"What happened to you?"

"Very bad day," she said. "Got sick."

"Oh . . ." If he could tell she was lying, he didn't say anything about it.

She sat on his bed and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Jer?"

"Hm?"

"If you loved someone, loved them so much that you didn't know if you could function without them . . . And they needed to hurt someone, would you let them?"

"What?"

"Just answer honestly."

She had to know if it was just her. She had to know if anyone else would react the way she had.

"Okay. It depends on _why_ they needed to hurt whoever they were hurting. Like was there a reason? Or were they doing it just for spite?"

"There's a reason."

"Then, yes."

Rebecca sighed in relief; so she wasn't the only one who felt that way. She fell backwards on the bed and pulled Jeremy down beside her.

"Are we too old to do the brother/sister sleeping in the same bed thing?"

"Just a little. Why?"

"Because I really don't wanna sleep alone," she whispered honestly.

Jeremy looked at her, worried, when tears began to fall. Rebecca understood the concern; before school began she had never cried so much and now it was like she was _always_ crying. And she hated it. She didn't want to be one of those women who only knew how to cry; she _wanted_ to be fun and happy.

"Hey, I think we can make an exception tonight, okay?" Jeremy said, wiping the tears away.

She nodded and moved closer. "Thank you."

Rebecca closed her eyes, exhausted, hoping that Jeremy wasn't reading anything but what she'd said to him into this situation. Their relationship was good the way it was and she didn't want it to get awkward because she'd been a little needy that night. She wanted to fall asleep beside someone who cared about her. It was comforting and it made her feel a little less alone.

Granted, Jeremy wasn't the guy who she _wanted_ to fall asleep beside, but he was still someone she cared about and was comfortable enough with to fall asleep with.

* * *

The next morning she awoke with her head on Jeremy's chest and with his arm around her. She knew right away that it was Jeremy and not Damon. Damon's chest was firmer. Damon's whole body was firmer. She became aware of a hand playing through her curls and she lifted her head up to look at Jeremy, who was worried again.

"What?"

He blinked a few times and she could see hesitation in his brown eyes.

"What?" she repeated gently.

"What happened to you? You were crying out in your sleep. Did someone hurt you? Because you sounded really afraid, Becca."

"No one hurt me," she responded automatically, but then because she hated lying to him, she added, "on purpose. No one hurt me on purpose. Um . . . I can't really talk about it. It's just something I have to deal with on my own."

"Okay. I'm here, though, if . . ."

"I know." She gave him a brief hug before getting up. "Thanks, Jer."

She was sure she'd slept better than she would've had she been alone. She'd still had nightmare images running through her mind all night. Even though she knew Damon hadn't meant to hurt _her_, it still made her head hurt thinking about it. It had been frightening and painful when he'd bitten her. It had been because he'd been starving, she knew that - and she still blamed Stefan for that - but it had still been _Damon_ hurting her.

"I have to go home and change for school," Rebecca said, forcing herself to not think about Damon now.

"You're actually going?" Jeremy seemed surprised. "You've been missing a lot."

"I know," Rebecca sighed. Jeremy wasn't judging, she noticed, because he'd missed a lot himself. "I have, but . . . I'm gonna try to do better."

Not that she'd _need_ a high school education, because assuming she even had a future it had already been decided for her. Bad hours, no pay, and sharp wooden things were what she could look forward to.

Once downstairs she noticed that neither Jenna nor Elena was anywhere to be seen. Elena had probably left already and Jenna was probably in class - Psychology 101 or something like that.

Now that she was thinking about it, Rebecca didn't feel like going to school. She texted Bonnie to see if she could pick up her homework for her at the end of the day; Bonnie reliably said yes.

Rebecca got a cab again, and again told the driver to go ahead, not to wait. She didn't knock because she knew whichever brother was there would hear her anyway.

"Damon?" she called out, felt that he was near, and then he was right there and she noticed his eyes were cold and furious. He'd never looked at her like that before. "Um . . . H - hi."

What was wrong with him? Something had to have happened to put him in this mood.

"Whose scent is that?" His voice was falsely casual and she knew at that moment he was more dangerous than he'd ever been around her - excluding the day before, of course.

"What?"

"The scent, it's all over you. Whose is it?"

"Oh . . . Um, don't go flying off the handle. It's Jeremy's. I slept with him." When he put his hands on either side of the door, near her head, she backtracked hurriedly. That last statement hadn't been meant to sound like that. "I mean, I slept in his _bed_ with him. There was nothing romantic or sexual at all. But that's why his scent was on me, _is_ on me."

And really? Damon was worried about that right now? She'd come over here to see if _he_ was okay even though she'd been the one who'd nearly died and he was going to ask her about that? He was going to doubt her when she'd never done anything to hurt him, _ever_?

* * *

When Damon had gotten home, he'd known immediately that Rebecca hadn't been there; he'd thought she wouldn't come back either. Not after what had happened, what he'd done.

But here she was. He'd gone a little crazy, what with someone else's scent all over her - the predator part of him coming out, he guessed. If he'd been thinking rationally he would've noticed there was no sex scent on her, but he _hadn't_ been thinking rationally.

And he'd scared her again. The fear he could smell. Though, that could've been left over from the day before, he wasn't sure.

"Why were you over there?" He backed away and relaxed a little.

"Elena came over last night. I went home with her; she wasn't in the most sociable of moods, so I slept in Jeremy's room." There was a little bit of attitude in her voice and he didn't know where it was coming from. He'd have to play this by ear, he guessed.

Damon watched as her teeth grazed over her bottom lip. He had the sudden urge to lean forward and repeat the gesture on his own but he didn't. When he looked back up at her eyes he noticed he had obviously done something to hurt her because there was pain there.

"You really think that I would just do that to you?" The hurt turned into anger. "You think that I would risk my life letting you out yesterday and then turn around today and hurt you like that?"

"I don't know what I think, okay? I didn't even expect you to come back!" He so hadn't meant to say that out loud. But it had been skimming around the back of his mind since he'd left the night before to feed. He'd thought she would avoid him like the plague now. He'd never imagined she would be back the next day.

"What? You thought I was going to be scared of the big, bad vampire?" she mocked him lightly, but her eyes had gentled. "What happened yesterday . . . It wasn't the greatest experience of my life and I definitely don't want a repeat performance, but it's not going to scare me away, because if you hadn't literally been starving, you never would've done that to me that way. It's Stefan's fault for locking you up."

Damon had pretty much stopped listening after she'd said she wasn't going to leave; that was what mattered. And he didn't have to be so defensive because he wasn't going to lose her over this. She was brave, stupid, or way too well-adjusted to be healthy. He chose to think it was the first and last things. Besides she would've gotten out fast enough if Zach hadn't gotten in the way. It wasn't like she'd _wanted_ to get ravaged; that had been all him.

He looked at her now unmarked neck and bit the inside of his cheek. He remembered how bad it had looked the day before, all bloody and torn open.

_Hm_. _How does one go about apologizing for something like that_? His thought train paused. _And since when do I apologize for anything_?

Rebecca's laugh brought him out of his very confusing reverie. She was laughing at him? Not very many people could do that and just get away with it. What was so funny anyway? He didn't see anything funny about this situation.

"What?"

"You didn't mean to do it - or not to _me_ anyway. You're sorry for almost killing me. _I'm_ sorry for almost setting you on fire. Let's chalk it up to a very bad day, and move on. I'm good, if you're good."

He narrowed his eyes because he couldn't believe what he was hearing. She was being serious. And he was in love with a lunatic. But in Rebecca's world - however strange it was to him - everything was good. So . . . They were good.

"You're amazing sometimes, you know that?" he said, walls completely down now. It was okay to do that around Rebecca; he somehow instinctively knew that.

"Glad you think so. Stefan and Elena think I'm not amazing enough." Rebecca's good nature went away and Damon cursed internally. What had the gloomy couple been doing now?

"Elena knows, Damon. About Stefan and you; that's why she was here last night. Uh, she wanted to talk to Stefan, but he was a little preoccupied with the stake I'd shoved into his stomach."

"Aw," Damon teased. "You did that for me?" Then more seriously, "I _can_ defend myself, ya know?"

"It wasn't for you. It made _me_ feel better."

"Oh, well then, by all means . . . Continue."

"That's when Elena showed up. I went home with her because I didn't want to stay here with Stefan. She was mad at me for giving you free reign. And maybe a little mad that I'd known about Stefan for a while and hadn't told her."

Damon's eyes widened. "What were you supposed to tell her? That Stefan has a death certificate that dates back to 1864?"

"Uh . . . Explain that to her."

Rebecca leaned back against the front door and Damon saw that even with how she'd forgiven him - or hadn't blamed him in the first place - she was still tired and pale. And the front door was just a very bad place to rest.

"Come on. We have another invalid in the living room."

"I am not -" Rebecca looked at him "- an invalid?"

"Vicki . . . Whatever her last name is," Damon said, waving his hand to dismiss the last name he didn't care enough to know.

"Donovan?" Rebecca supplied slowly, grinning.

"Yeah, her."

The grin slowly slipped from her face. "Um . . . Was she the only one?"

"No," Damon admitted. "But you don't need to know because it's not your fault, what I did."

There. Wow. He actually felt better now. He'd wanted to say that since yesterday and now that he had it was like a small weight had been lifted from his chest.

Rebecca smiled a little and he offered her his hand. She grabbed onto it and said, "I believe you actually mean that."

Damon shrugged, but gave her a small smile in return. "You don't have to feel guilty about anything."

* * *

In the living room Rebecca saw Vicki, unconscious, on the couch. Rebecca looked at the bite mark, which was covered with a towel. The wound was still bleeding a little, but her pulse was strong and she was breathing fine.

Damon poured himself a drink and sat in a chair across from Vicki.

"Does the alcohol help?"

"A little. It takes the edge off."

Rebecca noticed Damon still didn't have his ring and she realized he was stuck here.

Once he was done with his drink he went behind Vicki, bit his wrist and put it over her mouth. Vicki resisted at first, but then it was like Damon's blood was the sweetest thing ever. She was holding onto his wrist like she was afraid he was going to pull away.

"Oh, please, you don't taste _that_ good," Rebecca muttered.

Damon looked offended and he smirked. "What're you talkin' about? I'm moist and delicious."

"Right." She tried to contain her laughter but she couldn't. "I'd still prefer a glass of milk and some chocolate chip cookies."

"Mm. Fine. Next time you're hurt I'll bring you milk and cookies, we'll see how that works."

Vicki finally began waking up and Damon withdrew his wrist. He compelled her so she wouldn't freak out. Rebecca didn't mind; dealing with a scared Vicki was not on her to-do list that day.

Vicki went to take a shower and while she was upstairs Damon turned on some music. When he came back his shirt was unbuttoned and hanging loosely from his shoulders.

"Um . . ." Rebecca looked away because it wasn't polite to openly stare.

"It's okay to look," Damon teased. "I know I'm hot."

Another fit of giggles left her mouth and she looked up again. The light play of muscles over his chest and abdomen was very distracting.

"You're so full of yourself."

Damon shrugged. "Doesn't change the fact that it's true." He plopped down beside her. "You wouldn't be looking if you didn't see _something_ you liked."

His eyes did that flirty thing he always did and she smiled a little.

"Fine, you're hot. But can you just kiss me now?"

He smirked but leaned in close anyway. She met him halfway and finally there was the connection she'd been looking for. He pulled away, though, right when she was getting into it and she noticed his eyes were amused and maybe a little smug.

"I thought you wanted to do the friends thing first?"

"Um . . . We can still be friends, just not _only_ friends. The 'just friends' thing went out the window when you kissed me at that party."

She reclaimed his lips and, for the first time, opened her mouth to let him in. She trembled as his tongue danced with hers. She could taste the whiskey he'd been drinking, but it was faint so she didn't mind.

Damon seemed to be very attuned to what she wanted, though he was also kind of guiding her to do what _he_ wanted. His hands were roaming over her back - and she suddenly remembered she still had _his_ shirt on - and her hands were sliding tentatively over his chest. His skin was silky smooth and she liked it.

Damon smirked against her lips. He knew Rebecca wasn't used to this - if the timid caresses hadn't proven it, then the blood from yesterday had. Virgin blood tasted different than not-virgin blood. It was purer, sweeter. When he'd first been turned he couldn't tell the difference, but now he could. Rebecca didn't have any _real_ sexual experience and Damon felt a little excited about that. He was going to have so much fun teaching her the nasty little things a man and woman could do with each others bodies.

But now wasn't the time. Vicki was in the house with them, Rebecca was still weak from yesterday, and, last but not least, he didn't want to overwhelm her by making her move into a physical relationship too fast. Where did she stand on the whole sex thing anyway? What was the right amount of time of being together before doing that for her?

Damon picked up on the fact that her heart was racing and pulled away. Her face and neck were flushed and she was breathing fast. Damon placed his hand on her chest over the beating thing and realized he'd almost made it stop yesterday. He'd known that before but it had only just hit home. And he really was sorry, it was just he'd spent so much time _not_ apologizing for anything that it was hard to get the words out.

Damon didn't know what Rebecca saw on his face, what she was reading from it exactly, but he knew that she got it. She understood. She was the only one who really did. Maybe it was because she'd loved him when he was human, or maybe it was because he could let his walls down when he was alone with her, but she could somehow read between the lines with him. She could usually latch onto whatever he was thinking without him having to say a word.

"Come here," she said, cupping his face gently.

She leaned in and brushed her lips against his. Usually he was the one initiating first contact, but this one was all her. Damon could tell this was about her reestablishing the fact that she cared about him and she - as strange as it was - trusted him.

Just like Rebecca wasn't used to intimacy, Damon wasn't used to people just giving and expecting nothing in return. But that was what Rebecca was doing. Giving and not taking. Not counting the people he compelled, no one had just given him comfort and even if they had wanted to, he probably wouldn't have accepted it. Not really.

But Rebecca was making this kiss about him, making it about reassuring him of the fact that she was here and not going anywhere. It was about taking care of him. It was something he wasn't used to and it made him feel a little vulnerable, which was another thing he wasn't used to.

What he _was_ getting used to, however, was the feeling of not being in control when she was around. God, it was like before she'd left. Like he'd reverted back to that, and that wasn't good. He needed to be in control and on top of things.

But he'd already come to the conclusion that he wouldn't just give her up, so there was nothing else for him to do but try and learn to accept what she was offering. Taking care of the people she cared about was who Rebecca was, so he'd have to learn to let her take care of him.

His canines extended and he pulled away, again cursing his newfound emotions, but didn't turn his face away, not like he had so many years ago; he'd learned then that she didn't care that the vampire part of him erupted unexpectedly sometimes. Granted, he'd had it under control before he'd gotten with Rebecca, and he'd get it under control again once he got used to feeling.

* * *

Rebecca was annoyed. Vicki was hyper and talkative. She literally wouldn't shut up. She was dancing around, too. What was wrong with her?

"Damon, did you give her something else? Something other than your blood?"

"Nope."

"Well . . . How come it doesn't make _me_ do that?"

"Because you're not a drug addict."

"Oh."

"I am so over Tyler, so over him!" Vicki exclaimed. "I knew all along I was just a piece of ass to him, but I thought if he got to know me better he might see something more." Vicki fell to the floor happily and began rolling around. Rebecca covered her mouth to keep from laughing. "Now Jeremy, on the other hand, that's all he's ever seen in me is more, and I like that!"

"Jeremy?" Damon said. "Elena's brother?"

"Yeah!" Vickie hopped up off the floor. "Yeah. So Elena used to date my brother, and they were always together, so Jeremy would always be hanging around and crushing on me and - hey, why don't you have a girlfriend? You're like totally cool and so hot."

_Oh, that's where Damon got his ego from_, Rebecca thought.

Damon answered with a sarcastic 'I know' and Rebecca rolled her eyes. But then she noticed he was looking at her, and nobody else would've noticed it, but she could see the question in his eyes. He wanted to know what she would say about the girlfriend thing. What, did he think she only wanted him in private, that she didn't want anyone to know about them? If she didn't want anyone to know she was with him, she wouldn't be with him, period. She wouldn't treat him like that.

"Uh, his girlfriend's right here," Rebecca said, semi-territorially.

And that's when the real partying began. Damon could make Rebecca have fun even on the most depressing day ever. Rebecca began dancing around with Damon and Vicki, and she didn't even mind when Damon danced with Vicki because that was just Damon. Since both Damon and Vicki had made themselves comfortable, Rebecca felt she should do the same, so she removed her jeans - Damon's shirt came halfway down her thighs anyway.

"You're gonna have to help me come up with an excuse for why I'm missing so much school," Rebecca told Damon as she circled around him. "Something that doesn't involve me being here dancing around half-naked."

"Yeah, I don't think your dad would appreciate that."

Rebecca shook her head and watched as Vicki made her way upstairs; danced up the stairs was more like it.

"Do you care if she goes up there?"

"It's not like there're skeletons in the closet."

"Right."

"Come on, you guys, you can't make me party alone!" Vicki yelled from the top of the stairs.

One second Vicki was dancing, her upstairs with them downstairs, and then the next Vicki must've moved the wrong way because she was tumbling down the stairs.

"Vicki, no!" Rebecca said, flashing forward. She didn't have vampire speed, however, and the resounding crack as Vicki hit the floor made Rebecca stop moving.

Rebecca closed her eyes, clenched her jaw, and sighed. Vicki had broken her neck. She was dead and she had vampire blood in her system.

"Damn it," she muttered.

She felt a small jolt of sympathy for Jeremy and Matt, but other than that all she felt was grief for the human life that had been lost. Yes, she would come back as a vampire, but Vicki wasn't the most stable person to begin with; it would take a while for her to adjust to her new life - unlife?

She felt Damon put his hands on her arms to move her away and she looked up at him, confused.

"She's gonna wake up soon," he exclaimed.

"It took you all night to wake up."

"I didn't have as much blood in my system so it took me longer."

"Oh." Rebecca's mind went blank all of a sudden. "What do we do? I mean, she doesn't know you're a vampire, right? She's not gonna know what's happening to her."

Damon shrugged and she could see him flip the switch off that let his feelings show. "She'll remember and we'll explain what happened."

"And she'll believe us, of course. She'll think she's going nuts." She sighed and wrapped her arms around herself. "Does it help? The switch thing . . . It's easier for you?"

"Yes," he answered honestly.

"Right. Well, imagine if you _couldn't_ do that. And that's how I feel right now. Everything I've had to do since I became a Slayer . . . Killing vampires, watching people die, and then _letting_ people die, and now Vicki . . . That's all stuff that I have to feel because I don't have the luxury of shutting it off."

She didn't touch him, not when he was like this because she didn't know how he'd respond to it.

"Now I get it if you have to close yourself off to what just happened. If it helps you function and be rational, then by all means do what you have to do to take care of this, but please don't shut _me_ out, because I can't do this alone, okay?"

* * *

Damon looked from the dead girl on the floor - she'd been reckless and had paid the price - back to Rebecca. She was pleading for him to not keep her out. It made her feel alone when he did that. But . . . That was just him; that was how he'd learned to be.

As a vampire, he had two choices. Open himself up to feel everything magnified or shut himself off, keep everything out, and sometimes he just had to do that. To make it easier for himself.

_But it's not just about you now_, the voice in his head said, and as usual he told it to shut up and go away.

"I will take care of this, okay?" He tried not to be completely closed off. "You don't have to stay if you don't want to."

Rebecca put her hands on her hips and huffed. "I think what I just said proved that I don't want to leave."

"Well, then . . . You're just gonna have to accept that this is how I deal with things."

"Maybe you need a better way of dealing with things then!"

Whatever he was going to say to that was forgotten because Vicki was now waking up. Like Rebecca had said, Vicki wouldn't know what was happening to her. She would soon remember, but until then they couldn't help her.

Since Damon now knew that Rebecca just wanted to be included he was sort of okay, though he was still a little not-okay with her being around Vicki right now. Rebecca wasn't even at a regular human's strength; if he didn't stay right with her Vicki could unwittingly hurt her.

"Don't leave my sight," Damon ordered; he smirked when Rebecca glared. "What, you expect me to say please?"

"It'd be nice," she muttered, rolling her eyes.

Vicki sat up and looked around, grabbing her neck. It probably just felt like she'd slept on it wrong. If she only knew . . .

"Uh . . . What happened?" she grimaced.

"You died," he said bluntly, and Rebecca's glare turned to a look of disbelief. She gave him a 'what the hell are you doing' look. He just looked back; he knew what he was doing.

"What?"

"You're dead."

"I'm dead."

Damon remembered how disorienting waking up after dying was and he didn't feel sorry for her exactly, but . . . He could relate to what she was feeling.

"Yeah, let's not make a big deal out of it. You drank my blood, you died, and now you have to feed in order to complete the process.

"Damon!" Rebecca mumbled loud enough for only him to hear. "Stop it!"

"You're wasted," Vicki said, standing up.

"You don't wanna be out there all alone," Damon said.

Vicki picked up her pants and then started stumbling around putting them on. Damon flashed in front of her.

"You're about to get _really_ freaky."

Vicki looked behind her to where Damon had been standing _before_ and to where he was _now_ but she didn't mention it. She probably thought she was seeing things.

"Look, I had a really good time, but I just wanna go home."

"You're gonna start craving blood, and until you get it, you're gonna feel very out of it. You need to be careful."

Vicki wasn't listening. "Come on, move."

"See, you're already startin' to fall apart."

"And I'm going home now."

"Okay, fine. I'm just warning you."

"Yeah, whatever." Vickie began walking toward the front door.

"Vicki, you can't just leave," Rebecca said. She'd obviously seen that Damon's way wasn't working. "The sun is going to make you very uncomfortable now. And you shouldn't be alone right now. You're gonna -"

Damon placed a hand over her mouth and smirked when she began mumbling, trying to talk anyway.

"Actually, you know what? You _should_ go," Damon said. "In fact, if I were you, I would stop by your boyfriend Jeremy's house."

Rebecca's eyes widened and she grabbed his hand to try and remove it from over her mouth; he was stronger than her today so she failed. She needed to chill; nothing was going to happen - not yet anyway. Vicki wouldn't know what she had to do until around nightfall anyway.

"Whatever, bye."

"Tell Elena I said hi," Damon said. "And if you see Stefan, tell him to call me."

He yanked his hand away when Rebecca tried to sink her teeth into his flesh.

"Vicki, you can't go to Jeremy's!" she exclaimed. "You could hurt him."

"Oh, let her go. She's fine for a while," Damon said, grabbing her wrist.

"No, I have to follow her. I have to -"

"You're not going after her," Damon said, squeezing tighter to ensure she couldn't move.

"But -"

"You're _not_ going after her."

Rebecca could tell if she hadn't been wearing her necklace she probably would've been under his control then.

"But she could hurt him, Damon! She'll start looking at his neck and smelling his blood and _craving_ it, and she's not gonna know why. She's just gonna know she wants it and she's not gonna be able to stop."

"That won't happen for a while. Besides, Stefan will be there; he won't let her hurt him."

Rebecca tried to yank her hand back but Damon locked his fingers and didn't let her budge.

"_Let me go_!" She tried to pry his fingers open.

"No," Damon said, glaring. "Look, if you go after her, _you_ could get hurt."

"This isn't about me; this is about helping her adjust to what's gonna happen to her!" Again she tried to yank away. That approach obviously wasn't going to work. "Look, she's not like you, Damon. You knew, she _doesn't_. She's gonna freak out and -" She broke off when Damon let her go only to grab her shoulders to make her look at him.

"Okay, I can't say this any clearer. If you try to leave, I will rip that necklace off and _make_ you stay."

He was glaring down at her; she glared right back at him. She did cover her necklace with her hand, though, not that it would do any good if he really wanted to take it off. And why was he being like this?

He was being an over controlling jerk. And she kind of hated it. She didn't like people telling her what to do anyway, but she'd been around enough controlling men to know she didn't want one.

Then something occurred to her that hadn't before. "Do you want Jeremy to get hurt? Because I slept with him?"

His hands tightened on her arms and his cheek twitched in irritation. She tried not to wince from the pressure from his fingers but she failed.

"Slept in the same bed as him," she corrected herself. "Is that why you sent Vicki over there?"

Damon released his grip and turned away from her. She'd obviously hit a nerve. She realized now that he wasn't trying to be over controlling; he was just jealous. She didn't really like that either because that meant he didn't trust her.

"Damon! He's like a brother to me. A _kid_ brother. I slept in the same bed as him because I was upset last night. I couldn't sleep in Elena's room because she was pissed at me, and I didn't want to be alone! How many more times do I have to say I wouldn't do that to you? Or . . . Anyone. I don't treat people that way. And I think that after everything that's happened, I deserve for you to trust me a little. At least enough for you to know that I won't hurt you."

Really, she got that it was hard for him, but she still wanted him to trust her. She had earned it, hadn't she? She'd let him back into her life - she'd had to take it on faith that he wouldn't hurt her; she'd invited him in even though she hadn't known if he would kill her family or not; she'd let him feed on Caroline; she'd let him into every part of her life and he wouldn't even trust that she was loyal to him.

"I mean, I give you the benefit of the doubt; can't you do the same for me? At least unless I prove I don't deserve it?"

Damon turned back to her and she saw his expression was no longer hard or cold. It was actually a weird expression, like he was struggling with something. He moved toward her and, since she couldn't tell what kind of mood he was in, her defenses went up.

When he touched her, though, he was gentle, not like he had been before when they'd been arguing. He rested his forehead against hers and his breath hit her face in shallow huffs. He grabbed her arms again, but it didn't hurt, not this time.

"I'm . . . _trying_, Becca," he said, and she could tell by the tone of his voice that he was being honest. "Just don't give up on me, okay? Give me time."

"You can take as much time as you need, okay? And I'm not gonna give up on you. I _promise_. But you're gonna have to give a little. I understand why you do the things you do; now you're going to have to try to understand why I have to do the things _I_ do."

Damon shook his head. "Oh, I understand. You love Jeremy; you don't want him getting hurt."

Damon was speaking sarcastically and it was pissing her off again. Jeremy was her friend, damn it!

"Damon! What did I just say about understanding -"

"I understand, but you're still not going."

"Why not?"

Apparently Damon was done talking because he looked angry again. "Because you almost died yesterday, Rebecca. You don't have your strength and you won't be able to defend yourself if she turns. I can't be there to protect you because I don't have my ring."

Rebecca opened her mouth to say something, but she found she couldn't. What was there to say? He'd pretty much covered it all with that one small speech. And now she realized that most of Damon's bad mood had come from being worried about her. Yes, there was jealousy too - and she'd need to talk to him about that again later when they were both calmer - but most of it was his need to protect her. When she hadn't accepted it right away, he'd gotten angry.

Rebecca sighed. "Fine, but as soon as the sun goes down we have to find her. Okay?"

"Okay, agreed."

"Thank you."

It took a while to get there but, if they would both give a little, they could work together and do it well.

* * *

Okay, here's the latest! Told you Damon would have issues to deal with. Jealousy, for one. And Rebecca's going to have to learn that it's not his fault really, it's just how he's learned to be over the last 145 years.


	22. Chapter 18

Previously on Rewriting History . . . Damon and Rebecca were arguing about Vicki, but eventually came to an agreement to search for her after the sun went down.

Chapter Eighteen

Rebecca stayed at the boardinghouse with Damon since she'd agreed to and she wasn't a liar by design. In the middle of the day she got a text from her dad wondering where she was. She ignored it and cut her phone off.

What had happened earlier, plus everything that had happened the day before caught up with her and she had to chill for a while. She needed rest.

"You were right. Going after Vicki on my own would've been bad."

"I usually am right," Damon said, smirking. Then more seriously, "How're you feeling?"

"Just tired." _And shaky and erratic_, she added silently.

Then, to her embarrassment, her stomach growled. Even she heard it, so she knew Damon could.

"And hungry," Damon said, amused. "When's the last time you ate?"

"Uh . . . Two days ago?" She grimaced. "I've been a little preoccupied."

"We have food. What d'you want?"

"You can cook?"

"Yes."

"Um . . . Okay. Well, I don't know. Surprise me. Just nothing with blood in it." She grinned at him and he smirked again.

"Funny. Wait here. Rest."

"I can't even move to get a book?" she teased.

"Mm, I don't know. It's just fraught with peril." He reached over and ruffled her hair and she scowled at him and tried putting her hair back in place. "Go find you one you want. You can have it if you want it."

She smiled softly. "Why would I take it with me? I'm probably going to be over here a lot more than I'm gonna be at my house." Then she backtracked. "Uh . . . _if_ that's okay."

Damon saw her uncertainty flash in her eyes and he realized he was obviously doing something wrong if she couldn't tell that he wanted her with him, if she couldn't tell she didn't need to ask to come over. She was welcome whenever she wanted to be here.

"If you want to be here, you can be here. Day or night, okay? Now I'm going to go fix you something before you pass out."

Even when he was in the kitchen he could still hear her heartbeat; he'd always been very attuned to it.

He wanted to fix her something more substantial but the quickest way for her to get her strength back up was to get the nutrients she needed so he fixed her a fruit salad with a sweet creamy dipping sauce. Apples, strawberries, grapes and sliced bananas. Besides, he knew she liked fruit anyway, so it wouldn't matter to her that that's what he had fixed her. He'd cook for her some other time when she didn't have so much to think about.

When Damon went back into the living room with the food he saw that Rebecca was laying on the couch looking better than any woman had a right to. Yes, her color was a little off because of the attack the day before, but, other than that, she was fine. Her body would've allowed her to be on the cover of a swimsuit magazine, and the fact that she was still in his shirt - and _only_ his shirt - made it hard for him to concentrate.

She was leaning on the arm of the couch reading, like she'd said she was going to do.

"What'd you pick?" he asked.

"_Call of the Wild_, Jack -"

"London," Damon finished for her. He watched as she marked her spot with her finger. "That's one of my favorite books."

"Hm." She sat up straighter to give him room to sit. "We had to read the Cliff Notes in English once; I never got around to actually reading the book until now.

Damon handed her the salad. "Here, eat."

Since Rebecca had been talking about school it hit Damon how young she really was, how hard it would be for her. She didn't have a future, not really. It had been taken from her. Her choices had been made for her. She wouldn't be able to go to college or have a job or any of that. She wouldn't be able to have anything normal at all.

Not that she seemed to mind at all - she _was_ spending the majority of her time with a vampire.

* * *

By the time night had fallen, Rebecca had eaten twice and had taken a nap once. Damon and Rebecca went to Elena's thinking that was probably where both Stefan and Vicki were. Rebecca knew Damon was more interested in finding his ring and his phone than he was in finding Vicki, but finding Vicki would help him find his stuff, so . . . Ergo . . .

When they reached the two story white house Damon handed her the keys and she looked at him, confused.

"I want you to stay here. I'll be faster on foot and since you're still not at one hundred percent . . ."

"Okay." She grinned when Damon furrowed his brow in disbelief. "What? We had this conversation earlier and if I disagreed we'd just argue again. We have bigger fish to fry."

"Hm. At least you've gotten your priorities straightened out."

Rebecca slipped the keys into her pocket when she stepped out of the car and then they walked up to the front door. Rebecca knocked and they waited. She could already sense that Stefan wasn't there, which meant that Vicki wasn't there.

When Elena opened the door she tried closing it again. Jeremy was behind her and he looked at her like she was insane, but he listened when she told him to go upstairs. Rebecca could tell Elena wasn't only frightened; she was also pissed. Probably at both Damon _and_ Rebecca, but mostly Damon, who was standing there, the perfect picture of indifference and nonchalance.

"You're afraid of me," Damon said, amused.

Rebecca internally groaned. _Here we go again_.

"Stay away from me," Elena seethed.

"Hey, hey, hey. There's no need to be rude. I'm just looking for Stefan. May I come in?" Damon pretended to wait, but then, "Oh, wait. Of course I can. I've been invited."

Elena backed away as Damon went in and Rebecca muttered 'be nice' loud enough for only him to hear before she followed him in.

"Look, we can cut to the chase if you want. I'm not gonna kill you right now. That wouldn't serve my greater agenda."

Rebecca wanted to say he wasn't going to kill _any_ of her friends if he knew what was good for him, but she let that lay for the time being.

Damon glared at Elena defiantly, and Rebecca had to be impressed that Elena glared back. Impressed because Damon was intimidating and Rebecca wasn't sure that she could do it if she weren't the Slayer.

"Now, where's Stefan?"

"He's out looking for Vicki," Elena said, hatred lacing her voice.

Damon pretty much just rolled his eyes at her. "Don't look at me with those judge-y little eyes. The girl's gonna thank me for what I did."

Rebecca looked at Damon sharply. What was he doing? He hadn't really done anything, _really_. It had been an accident, right? So why was he saying all that? It wasn't his fault or anyone else's; it had just happened.

Damon had moved forward and Elena was trapped between him and the wall. Rebecca knew from experience that that wasn't a good place to be, but Elena was holding her own.

"Did you thank Katherine?" Elena asked, glaring up at him.

Rebecca moved closer because she wasn't sure how Damon would react to that. She didn't know how Damon felt about the Katherine situation now. She knew Damon hadn't wanted to turn even though Elena probably didn't. Stefan wouldn't have incriminated himself by admitting what he'd done.

Rebecca was relieved when all Damon did was look at Elena, and he didn't even look angry; though sometimes he was good at hiding things like that.

"Hm." Damon turned away and his face was expressionless. "Got the whole life story?"

"I got enough."

"Oh, I doubt that," Damon said, closing himself off now. "Anyway, tell Stefan I'm looking for him."

Rebecca watched as Damon went out the door, but then he came back in smirking. "Oh, for future reference, be careful who you invite in the house."

Then he was really gone.

"Are you okay?" Rebecca asked softly.

Elena shook her head. "What's wrong with you? He's . . . something's wrong with him. He's dangerous and unstable and he threatened me!"

"No, he didn't. But, yes, he is dangerous." She stepped forward. "Look, I don't want to fight with you, okay? I'll explain whatever you want me to explain. All you have to do is ask."

Elena shivered a little and Rebecca could see that Damon had affected her more than she'd let on. Elena led Rebecca to the kitchen, though, and she began to make some coffee.

"Okay." Elena sat at the table and Rebecca followed suit. "How long have you known? About Stefan and Damon?"

"A few days after school started."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Rebecca scoffed, but was gentle when she spoke. "Would you have believed me if I had told you that Stefan needed to drink blood to survive? That's he's been around since the late 1800s?"

Elena shut her eyes and looked down. "Why did Damon tell you the truth when Stefan couldn't tell me?"

Rebecca could tell that Elena was worried about Stefan not trusting her just like Rebecca was worried about Damon not trusting _her_.

"Uh . . . Elena, have you talked to Stefan about anything?"

"I spent the day with him. He explained some things."

"Okay, well, why don't you tell me what he told you and then I'll fill in the blanks. Okay?"

Elena looked up at her and Rebecca could tell she was wondering if she even wanted to know, if she could deal if she knew.

"He told me that Katherine could control his mind . . . And Damon's."

"Yes. She _made_ them, compelled them, to love her like she wanted them to." Rebecca swallowed nervously. "Did he tell you about me?"

It suddenly occurred to Rebecca that she didn't know exactly how much Stefan knew about her, how much Damon had let Stefan in on that. She knew Stefan had to know she was a Slayer - he was a vampire, part of him would be able to sense that - but how much did he know about Slayers? And how much of the past had Stefan told Elena about and how much was Rebecca part of it?

"He knows that you love Damon."

"Yes, but did he tell you why?"

"No."

"Okay, uh . . . I know that you already have a lot on your plate, so if at any time you want me to shut up, I will." She looked Elena right in the eyes. "I was there."

"What?" Elena obviously hadn't expected that.

"Um . . . I read a spell out loud. And I realize that sounds really cheesy and unrealistic, but I was reading from a spell book and I woke up in 1864. I met their father - ugh! Horrible, horrible person. I staked a vampire in front of him and, since he knew about vampires, he invited me to stay with him. That's when I saw Stefan. Imagine my surprise because I'd met him here in my time period first."

Rebecca paid close attention to Elena's face to make sure she wasn't going to go into shock. She was also absentmindedly listening to make sure Jeremy stayed upstairs. As a Slayer she had advanced hearing - not vampire hearing, but it was still more advanced than Elena's or any other human's.

"Damon didn't get there for a while so I got to know Stefan a little. Uh . . . Once Damon got there I hung out with both of them. Damon and I -"

"You loved him when he was human," Elena interrupted, apparently having a revelation. "That's why . . . That's why you let him get away with a lot of stuff."

Rebecca looked at her hands, debating. She'd never really thought of it that way.

"Um . . . Okay . . . I did love him when he was human, but I accept him the way he is now, too. He still has some good in him, Elena, he just has to find it again. And I wanna help him do that. But I don't . . . _love-love_ him now. I'm still getting to know whoever the hell he is now, but I am in very deep like with him."

"But he's . . . a . . . murderer."

Rebecca flinched. "So am I. Are you gonna toss me out on my ass too?"

"You kill vampires, that's not the same thing."

"Yes, it is. I'm still ending someone's life. It's exactly the same thing. I even like it, Elena. It's wrong and I tell myself I shouldn't like it, but it doesn't change the fact that I enjoy it a little. I'm even good at it."

"You . . . get off on it?" Elena asked cautiously, inching away.

Rebecca laughed a little. "Wouldn't go that far. And I don't hurt innocent people, so you can relax. You and Jeremy are safe. Anyway . . . Back to the past. Questions? Comments?"

"Did Damon love you?"

"He never _said_ it, but we were very close, yes. We had an instant connection. He was very good to me. Until _Katherine_ came." Rebecca couldn't help that her voice was bitter. She'd learned to hate Katherine.

"And Damon left you," Elena assumed and Rebecca became infuriated.

"He didn't _leave_ me. She took him, compelled him to forget about me. I didn't know it at first . . . I just thought he'd lost interest, and I was willing to let her have him if she was what he wanted. I wanted him happy even if that happiness didn't involve me. When I found out about that compulsion I confronted her, but it didn't help. She wouldn't leave him alone. She was doing the same to Stefan.

"She compelled Stefan to drink from her, but, because Damon thought he loved her, Damon did it willingly. They died with her blood in their system, so they . . . had to choose."

Rebecca bit her lip, wondering if she should edit this part. It wasn't really her story to tell, so yeah, she should, she guessed.

"Um . . . When you're in transition the smell of blood will cause you to lose control. Uh, something happened and I got hurt. I was bleeding badly and Damon couldn't help it. Stefan had . . . Um, he'd bitten me - he couldn't help it either, I guess."

"Stefan turned with your blood?"

"No. Damon turned with my blood. Stefan had already turned when he . . . Anyway, Damon stopped before he killed me, obviously, and he healed me. That's one of the reasons Damon doesn't get along with Stefan; he hurt me."

The rest of the reason was Damon's story to tell if he chose to.

"Did Damon ever do his mind control thing with you?"

Rebecca was going to say no, but then she remembered he _had_. "Once. But that was only because I'd hurt my shoulder really badly and he had to check to see if it was broken. He didn't want me to feel the pain when he did it."

Elena looked on in disbelief.

"I told you, he doesn't hurt _me_ on purpose, no matter what else he does."

"Uh, _yesterday_!" Elena's eyes widened as if she couldn't believe Rebecca could just get over that little fact.

"He was starving!" Rebecca exclaimed. "Which is your boyfriend's fault, by the way!"

Elena looked away from her and then Rebecca watched her shoulders slump. Elena was exhausted, she could tell.

"Can I get you something? Um . . . Tea, coffee, chocolate, ice cream? Um . . . Or sleep, if you want."

"No, we have to wait. Stefan's supposed to call when he finds Vicki."

"Oh." Rebecca bit her tongue so she wouldn't spill about how exactly what had happened wasn't Damon's fault. Vicki had died by accident with his blood in her system but she hadn't been _killed_.

"Um . . . What're you gonna do about Jeremy?" Rebecca got up when the coffee stopped brewing and poured herself a cup. She fixed Elena one too; Elena's was easy - she liked her coffee black. "If Vicki comes here he _will_ invite her in and if she chooses to turn that means she can come over whenever she wants."

"One problem at a time, Rebecca, please. I can't even . . . think about that right now. Okay?"

"Okay. Just . . . I love you guys and I don't want anything to happen to you."

Elena nodded and stood up with her coffee. "I'm gonna go outside. I need to be alone right now."

"Uh . . . Okay . . ." Rebecca stood up and grabbed Elena's shoulders. "You just found out there are _vampires_ in Mystic Falls and you're gonna go outside at _night_ and sit on the porch swing?"

"Yes. I'm not gonna stop living my life because of this. Now, please, I just . . . I need to be alone so I can think."

Rebecca nodded and let her go, reluctantly. She would feel if a vampire came by and she'd hopefully be able to respond quickly enough to help. Besides, Elena was right. She couldn't put her life on pause just because she knew the big secret now.

* * *

Damon had been tracking Stefan for thirty minutes. He could tell Stefan had been tracking Vicki. There was no trail of corpses to follow so he assumed Vicki hadn't turned. He ended up at the old cemetery and when he stopped he was able to hear a gunshot. Because he was a vampire it sounded closer than it actually was, but it gave him a direction to head in.

What he found was an upset Vicki - she was obviously remembering things now - a hurt Stefan, and an annoying human. Logan Fell, some news guy. He had a gun in one hand, a stake in the other. Stefan had been shot and was getting ready to be staked.

_So he knows_, Damon thought, _and that just automatically leads to killing_.

Damon expertly ripped the guy's throat out and then casually went about getting the bullet out of Stefan's chest. He couldn't have his brother dying; who else was he going to make miserable for the rest of eternity?

He ignored Stefan's groan of pain - it was Stefan's own fault for not indulging once in a while. He'd heal faster if he drank human blood.

Once the bullet was out Damon felt like groaning himself.

"It's wood. They know." Then, "If anyone's gonna kill you, it's gonna be me."

Damon got his ring back from Stefan, who seemed very reluctant to give it to him. He got his phone back too, but that was after Vicki fed from Logan. The guy had been bleeding; Vicki couldn't help it.

"Oops."

Damon didn't really care. He had what he wanted. His phone, his ring, and Rebecca. So he left Stefan there and took off, but not before he found the Gilbert compass. What had Logan Fell been doing with it?

He had one voicemail from Rebecca, one from Caroline - what the hell was she calling him for? - and then a few texts from Rebecca. He read the texts first because he saw that Stefan had obviously pretended to be him through the phone.

_Hey, something's come up. I have to leave, don't know when I'll be back_.

That had been Sunday morning, two days after the Founder's party. They way the text was written made it sound like he was giving her the brush-off. That pissed Damon off because he wouldn't just do that - or not with Rebecca anyway. _If_ something came up and he had to leave, he never would've just taken off, not with her. He would've told her face-to-face that he had to leave and, hell, he'd have offered her the chance to go with him. They both would've enjoyed the ride.

Her text to him after that had been: _Are you okay? Or do you need help?_

And Stefan hadn't even answered back. What must Rebecca have thought of that? Him just not even responding. He needed to give Stefan a major ass-kicking because that just wasn't the way one treated a woman like Rebecca.

_Ignoring her, telling her I was just leaving without a word_, Damon thought moodily. _Probably made her feel about an inch tall_.

Her other text was about Caroline: _Did you compel Caroline to forget, because the other day she was freaking out and now it's like she can't even remember it happened. It's creepy_.

Then for the voice messages. He deleted Caroline's, not caring enough to hear what she had to say. Rebecca's, on the other hand . . .

"Okay . . . Look . . . I'm not good at this, so . . . Uh . . . Are you okay? Because I know you and you wouldn't just ignore me if you didn't have a reason. So . . . Whatever it is . . . If I made you angry or uncomfortable then I apologize. But you need to tell me what I did because I'll probably do it again very often if I don't know that it bugs you. Anyway, call me when you can. I wanna know you're okay."

Damon glared at the phone as if _it_ was to blame. How dare Stefan make her think it was her fault, make her feel like an insecure little girl. Mm . . . how much more damage had his dear brother caused? Rebecca had definitely looked like she'd been through a lot when she'd come to him the day before.

If Stefan had done that to her - even if he'd done it unintentionally - Damon was going to become _very_ anti-social, because until that night Damon had been fairly nice to Elena; Stefan couldn't pay him the same respect with Rebecca?

* * *

At Elena's, Rebecca had left Elena alone like she'd wanted Rebecca to. But that meant that since Jeremy was the only other person there at the moment that she was once again curled up beside Jeremy in his bed. Granted, this time _she_ was comforting _him_. He'd been with Vicki that day and he was worried because she'd been on something and wasn't coming down. She'd been hungry and couldn't get full and her gums had been hurting, throbbing. They'd gotten her upstairs and she'd been fine for a while, but then she'd freaked out.

"She even had this super PCP strength," Jeremy said. "I don't know what's wrong with her. There was this thing on TV about a drug deal gone bad at that old cemetery. We were there last night."

"Drug deal? Were you . . ."

"No," Jeremy said defensively. "We were just partying."

"You got stoned in a cemetery?" Rebecca couldn't stop the small grin that pulled at her lips. "How disrespectful."

She began rubbing his back in small soothing circles when he didn't respond. She knew he was really worried about Vicki, and she couldn't tell him what was really going on.

"Come on. You need to sleep. We will find her and help her. Or she'll find you when she's ready, okay? But you won't be able to help anyone if you're falling down with exhaustion."

_Jeeze, shouldn't Elena be up here doing this_? Rebecca thought. But then again he probably wouldn't have accepted this from Elena. Sometimes Rebecca wondered if Jeremy blamed Elena for their parents' deaths.

"Okay," he mumbled, already shoving his head onto the pillow. Rebecca was stunned by how young and vulnerable he looked. It made her heart hurt because she knew he wouldn't be seeing Vicki for a while - or at all if the girl didn't turn.

She got up to leave him to it, but he grabbed her wrist. She looked down at him, confused. "What?"

"Will you stay until I fall asleep? Please?"

Rebecca swallowed back the throat burning sensation of unshed tears and sat back down. "Sure, Jer."

She smoothed the hair back from his face and began rubbing his back again. She knew he didn't let Elena or Jenna do this for him; he probably didn't even let Vicki.

"This is gonna sound really strange, but having you around right now makes me feel safe," Jeremy said softly. "It's almost like having my mom back."

Rebecca smiled softly, fondly, even through the tears. "In this scenario I am your mother? I can't just be your long lost sister from another family?"

Jeremy didn't speak, but he did smile tiredly. She leaned down and kissed his forehead much like his mom must've done when he'd been younger. She stayed with him until his grip on her wrist loosened, until he'd fallen asleep.

Then she got on his computer and brought up the local newspaper website. She wanted to know what Jeremy had been talking about - the drug deal thing - because Damon had bitten Vicki, and Vicki had been at the cemetery so that meant _Damon_ had been at the cemetery. And _that_ meant that whatever cover-up the town was going with was . . . Whatever Damon had done.

_Damon doesn't want you to know. Don't look_.

Rebecca thought about it and realized that _actually_ Damon probably wouldn't care if she knew - he had just told her not to feel guilty because _he_ had done it, not her. But she had to know what he'd done because it would bother her until she knew.

Three people had been killed and burned - though the article said it had been an accident. Damon had had to try and cover his tracks. He wouldn't have had to be so sloppy if Stefan hadn't locked him up, damn it! And now . . . Now, assuming the Council was out in full force, they knew there was at least one vampire in town.

She looked at Jeremy and said a small prayer of thanks that he at least hadn't gotten hurt; he'd obviously left before Damon had gotten to the cemetery.

Rebecca could feel that Damon was outside now, probably waiting for her, and he was with his brother. Maybe they hadn't come together but they had shown up at the same time. Rebecca sighed, cleaned the computer's history so Jeremy wouldn't know she'd been on it, and then looked at Jeremy to make sure he was still asleep. The covers were drawn up to his chin and his hands were tucked underneath.

She went to the window, opened it, climbed out and closed it back. She was now on the ledge that was between the first and second floors of the Gilbert house. She stepped off the edge and landed easily in a crouch so as not to hurt herself.

Stefan and Damon hadn't budged, though they both were watching her. Elena, who was still on the porch, had looked stunned for a second but then had turned her attention back to Stefan. Stefan, who was bleeding - Rebecca was concerned because she hadn't done it this time. What exactly had happened?

She subtly brushed her hand against Damon's when she reached his side - she noticed he had his ring back - and he looked at her. She gestured to Stefan with her head and he shook his head. She was a little surprised she hadn't had to ask if _he'd_ done it; he'd just known from the simple gesture she'd given.

That was . . . pretty awesome, actually.

"I couldn't stop her," Stefan said. "I tried."

Rebecca's shoulders slumped even though she'd sort of had a feeling Vicki would turn. Now . . . Now they'd have to help her, teach her, if Vicki would let them.

"What does that mean?" Elena asked. She was new to all this, she didn't know.

"It means she's a vampire now, Elena," Rebecca said gently.

"She fed. And I lost her."

"Why didn't one of you follow her?" Rebecca asked. "She's going to be hungry and she's not going to know to get out of the sun before morning."

"Well then, problem solved," Damon quipped.

"Uh, not funny." Rebecca glared without any real malice. "One: Ow! And two: Someone could see. Trust me, a girl spontaneously bursting into flames will rate very high on the six o'clock news."

"Well, I'll take care of it," Stefan said. "I will find her and teach her how to live like I do. I'll make sure that she doesn't hurt anybody. I promise."

"What do I tell my brother and - and Matt?" Elena asked, beginning to freak out.

"We'll come up with a story."

"You mean we'll come up with a lie," Elena corrected.

"Well . . . Actually, if she'll let us help her," Rebecca began, "she could go back to being somewhat normal within a few weeks. Uh, Jeremy wouldn't have to know anything unless Vicki told him."

"No. I don't want him involved in this," Elena said firmly.

"He lives in the same house as you do. He's gonna get involved one way or another," Damon said seriously. "The longer you keep it from him the more danger he's gonna be in."

"I _don't_ want him involved with this," Elena repeated. "He's just a kid."

"Uh . . . Okay," Rebecca said. "Well, if she shows up here, don't invite her in. If she shows up and _Jeremy_ invites her in because he doesn't know what she is -" Rebecca was hinting at the fact that Elena shouldn't keep Jeremy in the dark "- don't bleed in front of her. And don't make her angry, don't threaten her. Don't do anything that could be considered antagonistic. She's new and volatile. She could snap over the least little thing."

"Well . . . You're not staying?" Elena asked.

"I have to go home. I haven't been there for two days. And my phone's been off today, so my dad's probably freaking out. It's an argument waiting to happen, but I need to go get that over with so I can deal with _this_."

"_You_ are gonna stay at home and sleep," Damon said, taking her arm and beginning to lead her to the car.

"Uh, hey!" She yelled bye over her shoulder to Elena and then followed along willingly enough. "Damon, you don't have to drag me everywhere, you know. All you had to say was 'I'd like to leave, please.' You'd have gotten the same result."

He opened the door for her and she got in. Damon wasn't in the best of moods for some reason so she was silent. She'd wait for him to speak. If she asked, he'd probably just be sarcastic about it anyway.

Once he parked at the end of her street he took out a very familiar compass. Where had he gotten it? He couldn't have stolen it; she'd been in Jeremy's room when Damon had gotten to Elena's house.

"Logan Fell had this," Damon said. "He found Stefan with it."

Rebecca's shoulders tensed because she knew that meant Logan was dead now. Damon wouldn't have let him live, not since Logan had known. And, since he'd been a Fell, he would've run back to tell the Council.

"Logan used to go out with Jenna, uh, Elena's aunt. That's probably how he got it."

"Hm." Rebecca noticed that Damon looked uncertain. It unnerved her a little. "Okay," he sighed and rolled his eyes, "there's this thing, so I'm just gonna say it. And don't make me repeat it. What Stefan did . . . to make you think I left, and the message you sent . . ."

Rebecca grimaced internally. She'd left that before she'd figured out that he wasn't gone. She watched his fingers curl tightly around the wheel and she could tell he wasn't used to doing this, explaining what he was feeling. She waited patiently for him to continue. She knew if she said anything he might not finish.

"I didn't like that you sounded that way," he said tightly. "That he made you feel that way, made you think it was _me_ making you feel that way."

He looked at her now and his blue eyes were unexpectedly gentle and so . . . human. It made her breathing hitch. He swallowed vulnerably and her eyes glanced at his throat, which she felt a fleeting desire to kiss and lavish affection upon. Then she focused on his eyes again.

"Look, I know I can be an ass, okay? But I would never just ignore you. Trust me, I hear everything you say even if I don't always respond the way you want me to. I don't want you to feel that way in relation to me, ever.

"I can't promise to always do the right thing and I _definitely_ can't promise to say the right thing -" Rebecca grinned because, wasn't that the truth? "- but you will _never_ be ignored when I'm around. One could say I'm obsessively observant of everything you do."

* * *

Damon couldn't believe what he was doing. He was baring his heart to this beautiful girl beside him. It hadn't set well with him, hearing her voice be all small and insecure. That wasn't who she was. It also hadn't set well with him that he could make her feel that way. That meant he had too much power over her and that wasn't healthy.

As he'd talked he'd kept a check on her expression - if he'd seen any sign of amusement, he would've stopped talking immediately. He would've flipped the switch and shut her out completely. He wouldn't have been able to take it if he'd opened himself up to her and then she'd made fun of him for it. He would've snapped and someone would've gotten hurt.

He'd seen hesitation on her face when he'd mentioned the message and he wondered if she regretted leaving it. But other than that she hadn't commented at all; she'd just listened, just let him speak, let him say what he'd needed to say - or needed her to hear him say - without making him feel like he couldn't. Or shouldn't.

It made him remember how easy it had been to be himself around her when he'd been human, how natural it had been for them to be close, be together. It . . . terrified him yet made him feel a little safer at the same time.

_Damon Salvatore, terrified of a seventeen-year-old girl_, he thought wryly. _What has the world come to?_

He was surprised when Rebecca cupped his cheek and then pressed her lips to his, softly. It was short and chaste, but he could feel the love behind it. It was pure and almost innocent, Rebecca's love at that moment, and Damon didn't know how to respond to it.

Damon had had many people touch him in his very long life, but mostly it had been out of anger or lust. It had been to cause pain or to take pleasure from his body; it had never been to comfort or love him.

He found himself wanting it, her love, more than anything in the world at that moment, but his conflicting emotions couldn't settle on whether he should pull her closer or push her away. It wasn't in Damon's nature anymore, just to accept good things - there was always a catch. When good things came along he just waited for the other shoe to drop.

"Becca . . ." he whispered and then clenched his jaw to shut himself up.

"Shh." Her thumb caressed over his skin and he fought back a shiver. Damon Salvatore _did not_ shiver from a girl's touch. He didn't shiver, period. "I know. That was very difficult for you."

"Mm." Understatement of the century; he knew because he'd been there.

She kissed him again with the same love she had before and he wanted to melt into it, but she pulled away - now he felt like pouting like a child; he wanted it back.

"Thank you," she said, stroking his face once more before removing her hand. "For letting me in a little."

He wanted to tell her it wasn't a problem but it _was_ for him, and he didn't know when he'd be able to do it again.

Rebecca sighed and he looked at her; he realized she was procrastinating, putting off the inevitable.

"Okay, well . . . I guess I gotta go. But, assuming I still have my phone, I will call you in the morning. And I'll come help with Vicki after school. Uh, if it's safe."

"Yeah, okay." Damon bit his cheek but then figured - what the hell? - he'd already said worse, so, "And Becca? You're welcome."

She smiled a little wider than she had in a while so Damon figured it was well worth it.

* * *

Okay, here's the latest, though this one was just a prelude to the next one, which I will probably update in a few days. I really need to focus on my Supernatural story. LOL. I've been slacking there.

Let me know what you think about this. Thanks!


	23. Chapter 19

I know I said I was going to focus on Supernatural, and I am focused on writing it, but I already had this typed out, so I figured I wouldn't wait to put it on here.

Enjoy!

Chapter Nineteen

Rebecca's heart was racing when she reached her front door. She felt so . . . confused. She was scared of what her dad's reaction was going to be since she hadn't been home for about two days, but she was also happy that Damon had shown her he still had the part of himself that could talk to her even if he didn't let it show like he had when he'd been human.

As soon as Rebecca opened the door she was jerked inside. Her dad, of course, though she understood this time. She deserved his wrath now. But he had grabbed where Damon had gripped too tightly earlier that same day - he'd maybe left bruises? - and she winced.

"Where the hell have you been?" he yelled, sort of - Rebecca noticed his voice was rough and strained. "We've called everywhere for you. Your phone was off."

Rebecca looked at her aunt, who was silently fuming. Her face was red from anger and her eyes had a fire in them that Rebecca had never seen before. Her aunt Tina had never been this angry. Rebecca knew she probably wouldn't say anything since Tina wouldn't think it was her place, but the fact that Rebecca had caused Tina to become this way bothered her.

"I - I can't talk about it," Rebecca muttered, going past her dad. "I'm going to bed.

"Oh no. No, no, no," her dad said. "I am your father and you will explain yourself _now_."

Rebecca was thankful that Chelsea was already in her crib, probably fast asleep, because this was going to be a big blowout, it seemed.

"Dad?" Rebecca didn't know what to say. She couldn't tell the truth; it definitely wouldn't go well.

"Who were you with? That is a man's shirt and it's not mine. You disappeared yesterday, sent a cryptic message . . . You didn't go to school; you've been missing _a lot_ lately. Now you come in wearing a man's shirt, you look like _death_. What is going on?"

Rebecca heard the genuine concern her dad was expressing and she didn't know what to do with it. It had been so long since anything had touched her father in any way that it stuck her dumb for an instant.

"Is it drugs?" her dad asked. "What're you on and where are you getting it from? It's Jeremy, isn't it?"

"Dad, I'm not on drugs. I was at Elena's last night, I slept there. I was there today, too. Call and ask if you don't believe me. And -" a sudden inspiration hit her "- I haven't been going to school because I've decided I want to graduate early."

That made both her dad and her aunt stop and go blank for a second.

"All I have to do is talk to the principal and take a test to prove I can pass it and then I get my diploma. It's what I want."

"Uh . . . Why?" her aunt asked, speaking for the first time since Rebecca had gotten home.

"Because I want to be able to focus on other things than school. There are more important things!"

"Like boys?" her dad asked steely. "Like that . . . Damon?"

Rebecca rolled her eyes. What, did he expect her to be alone forever?

"I like Damon, yes, but he has nothing to do with this decision. Okay? I made this decision on my own."

Her dad took on a suspicious and worried expression. "You're not . . . pregnant, are you?"

Rebecca laughed a little, though there was no humor in it. "No. I promise. I'm not doing anything bad and I'm not gonna get in trouble. I just . . . have a lot to deal with right now, and I have to do it on my own."

"Well, I just don't accept that," her dad said, regaining his angry focus. "What was so important that you couldn't have called to let us know you were okay or that you weren't going to school?"

Rebecca bit her lip, conflicted. She wanted to tell them the truth - she was fairly certain her dad already knew about vampires, anyway - but she didn't want to have to explain everything. And her aunt would freak out worse than she already was. Only instead of being angry, she would probably want to cart Rebecca off to the nearest psych ward.

Rebecca had never bothered to care what her dad thought of her, but she cared now. She cared because she was going through some very strange shit and she was doing things that were making him doubt her.

"Um . . ." What was so important? "Saving the world from vampires?" She'd said it as a joke just to see what their reaction would be.

Tina glared, obviously not appreciating the humor. Her dad, however, just blinked and looked on suspiciously.

"Go to you room, Rebecca," he said softly. "We'll talk about it later."

Rebecca did as he asked but was silently fuming about him dismissing her like a child. Yes, taken out of context she guessed her actions could be construed at childish - maybe - but the truth was she had more to deal with than either of the adults in this house could ever understand.

1) Vampire boyfriend - which was his problem as much as it was hers - liked to eat her and had almost killed her unintentionally.

2) Said vampire boyfriend sometimes had to kill people and he may or may not like it when he does it - she was undecided on that.

3) Elena was pissed at her for keeping her in the dark, but then she went and did the same thing to Jeremy - hypocrite.

4) Her dad was beginning to not trust her, though hopefully he might understand now.

5) Vicki. New vampire. Biggest problem of all because different people took to vampirism in different ways. Case in point: Stefan and Damon.

6) Oh yeah, she was a Slayer, which meant she was the only _human_ strong enough to stop all this crap.

Add to that list making sure her family and friends didn't die, her brain began hurting.

* * *

The next morning came and Rebecca found herself not in school again, though this time her dad had called the principal and had made the arrangements for her to graduate early like she'd wanted. She had a month to prepare for the test; if she failed she could make everything up in summer school.

Her dad had woken her up in time so they wouldn't have to deal with her aunt's wrath. They had gotten in her dad's Mustang and he'd driven them to the police station.

"Uh . . ." She unbuckled her seatbelt. "What're we doing here?"

He ignored her question by asking one of his own. "Were you being serious last night? About what you were doing? Because . . ." Her dad smiled bitterly and Rebecca was reminded of how she herself felt. "That would explain a lot."

Rebecca just looked at him and he just looked away. So now he knew.

"I never wanted you involved in this," he said, looking back at her and she was surprised to find his eyes were shining. "How did you find out?"

"Um . . . When Vicki Donovan was bitten. The bite marks, an animal couldn't have done that. If anybody else in this town had half a brain, they would know too."

"H - How much do you know?"

"Vervain. Stake to the heart, fire, sun, beheading."

"Okay then." The bitterness left her dad's face. "I just . . . I'm thrown by this. Everything you've been doing makes sense now. You . . . What do you do?"

"I fight them. I don't know if you've ever heard of it before but I'm a Vampire Slayer. I - I'm human -" she thought she should point that out since she was near a Council member; the Council was pro-human only "- I just . . . In every generation a Slayer is chosen. One born with the strength and skill to stop the vampires. There's more, but it's really dull, so . . . Just know that I've been training and I know what I'm doing."

Her father was just staring at the steering wheel and biting his lip in thought.

"I wanna help, Dad. The Council, I know what you guys do, and I want in. Okay?"

He looked at her and he'd never looked so wrecked before. Or so old and tired. Rebecca's heart lurched in sympathy even though she'd sent so much time in the past eight months basically hating this man.

"We always assumed you were a myth . . . That the Slayer was a myth."

"Nope," she said softly. "I'm real."

"Have you ever staked a vampire?"

"Yes," she said honestly. "At least six. Not all of them were here. Some were in Richmond."

"At a warehouse?" her dad asked suspiciously. "That was you?"

"Uh . . ." How'd he know? "Yeah."

"The Council was called in on that. The two vampires . . . were hard to explain."

"Yeah, I didn't have time to clean up after myself. The security alarm went off. I had seven minutes to get the hell out of there."

"Language," her dad scolded her.

"Uh . . . I tell you I fight vampires and you get after me for saying the word 'hell'?"

"Right." He laughed a few times. "Um . . . That is kind of redundant."

Rebecca smiled and she felt . . . okay for the first time in a while - aside from the times when she was around Damon. She and her dad were having an actual conversation that didn't involve one of them getting angry at the other. They were bonding, sort of, she guessed.

"Are you being careful?"

"What?"

"With the slaying?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. I've got it covered."

"Okay." He sighed and leaned his head back against the seat. "We're here to talk to the Sheriff. She'll tell the Lockwood's and the Fells and Zach. Okay?"

Rebecca nodded and tried to keep her expression clear. Zach was dead and so was Logan Fell. Of course the _other_ Fells would be in on it, too, but still . . .

"Okay, let's get this over with."

* * *

Elizabeth Forbes was a forty-something year-old woman and Rebecca could tell she honestly did care about most of the people in Mystic Falls. The only problem was she'd been brought up to think all vampires were evil, no questions asked. To her they weren't people; they were just things, evil things that needed to be taken out.

Rebecca let her dad do most of the talking unless the Sheriff asked her a question directly. Her dad never mentioned the fact that she was a Slayer. Needless to say, she was happy when the interview - or _whatever_ - was over. Finally she could leave. Her dad let her have the car because he had other things to attend to; he still wanted her to call and let him know if she was going to be late. That hadn't changed any.

Once out on the front steps of the station she took on her phone and sat down. She found Damon's number on her contacts list and texted him to see if he could talk - he might've been doing something and didn't want to be disturbed.

"Becca? What're you doin' here?" a very familiar voice said from behind her. Jeremy sat beside her and she saw he looked worried.

"I'm here with my dad. He had to talk to the Sheriff. Why are you here?"

"Vicki. A search party."

"Oh, uh -" her phone rang "- hold that thought." She flipped her phone open. "Yeah?"

"Yeah? How is 'yeah' any better than 'what'?" Damon's voice came over the line.

"It's better because _I_ said it."

Rebecca felt something in her break, but it was a good break; it was amazing how much _better_ she felt just from hearing his voice.

"Right."

"Uh-huh. So . . . Did you take care of that thing you were supposed to take care of?" She hated speaking in code, but, since Jeremy was right there beside her, she kind of had to.

"She's here. Hungry, but she's here. She's . . . okay, though."

"Oh. So it's safe for me to be there?" She grimaced when she saw Jeremy's eyebrows shoot up.

"I thought you were at school."

"I quit," she said, grinning, wondering what Damon's reaction would be.

"You what?"

The incredulity in his voice made her laugh out loud. She had a feeling that Damon didn't get shocked by much so that she could draw that reaction out of him was amazing.

"Well, I sort of quit. I'm taking a test so I can graduate early. Focus my energy elsewhere."

"On _me_?" She could just imagine him doing his eye thing then even though she couldn't see it. "Sounds potentially . . . fun."

"Those were _your_ words, not mine. Anyway, I'll be there shortly. Bye."

"Mm-hm."

After that conversation was over she turned back to Jeremy, who was looking at her weird.

"What?"

"You're graduating early?"

"I'm gonna try."

"Why?"

"I'm . . . I hate school."

"Uh-huh. And where is it you were wondering if it was safe for you to be?"

Jeremy could be very protective when he wanted to be. She wondered how Jeremy would react if he knew Elena was dating a vampire and _she_ was with a homicidal maniac vampire.

"Oh . . . Uh, a friend is going through something and I wanted to make sure I wouldn't get my head bitten off if I went to visit."

Jeremy grinned. "Nice friend."

She laughed; it was bordering on hysterical. "I know, right. Anyway, did you need a ride? I actually have the car today."

"No, I'm gonna catch a ride with one of the others."

"Okay, well . . . I gotta go, but I'll see you later." She hugged him briefly and said, "I hope Vicki's okay, Jer."

"Thanks."

* * *

Damon heard a car pull up outside the boardinghouse. He knew it was either Rebecca or Elena, and seeing as to how Rebecca had said she was coming over, smart money was on her.

He, Stefan and Vicki were in the library, but Damon left them to it so he could greet Rebecca. She'd said his name and he knew if he didn't go to her she'd start searching. It would've taken her a while to find them with the size of the house.

When he saw her he noticed her color was back to normal and she looked like she felt better, stronger.

"Hello, Rebecca," he said and smirked when her eyes lit up at the sound of his voice. Well, _that_ was interesting and flattering.

"Hey, how's Vicki?"

"Hungry," he quipped. "She's acting more or less the way she did yesterday."

"Oh." She bit her lip almost nervously. "You didn't answer my question on the phone whether it was safe or not for me to be here."

"You don't see me shoving you out the door, do you?"

She scoffed and shook her head. "Smartass."

Damon smirked and shrugged indifferently. He knew he was a smartass; he also knew she didn't really care.

"You know, not everybody can act like you do and get away with it."

"Well, not everybody is as attractive and fun-loving as I am."

"Right." She bit her lip again to stop the laughter from flowing out. "Glad you think so highly of yourself."

"Mm-hm" He held his hand out and he was still surprised when she accepted it so quickly. "The newbie's this way." Then, getting serious now, "You know if I see fangs, I'm playing dentist."

"Uh, agreed. Getting bitten twice in one week, not really a fantasy of mine."

Damon stopped walking when he noticed her pace decreasing, and he looked at her. She seemed nervous.

"What?"

She sighed and met his eyes. "I told my dad about me. And I talked to the Sheriff this morning. She's going to talk to the Mayor and they're going to see what they can do about getting me on the Council."

"Okay . . ." Why was she nervous about that?

"I . . . needed to know where they stood with the three partiers from two days ago. I needed to know if they had any suspects and they don't right now. I was just making sure they didn't suspect you."

"So they know you're the Slayer now?" That couldn't possibly end well.

"My dad does. Uh, I think my aunt would flip, so she doesn't know. Nobody else knows either; I didn't feel comfortable advertising my less than normal abilities to people who freak out over abnormal things."

So she had taken it upon herself to help him again. He didn't know how she did it, because like she'd pointed out the day before, she didn't have a switch that would make it easier for her to carry on. Every emotion she had, she didn't have the choice to not feel it. It was becoming harder for him to flip that switch, actually, so he could semi-relate.

The point was that Rebecca had too much on her plate already and her taking care of _him_ in her own way was just adding to it.

"Why're you telling me?" Did she need help or something?

"Because I didn't want you to find out from someone else. You're a very important part of my life and that means I should be able to let you into _every_ part of my life." She smiled a little. "Besides, if I hadn't told you, you would've wondered why when you did find out."

Before he realized what he was doing he leaned down and kissed her cheek. He wasn't so good at expressing himself out loud, but he had to let her know in some way what her doing this meant to him.

"Thank you," he whispered in her ear, and straightened up.

The smile she gave him could've brightened up the room they were in had she been connected to a power grid.

"You're very welcome, Damon."

Instead of making him dwell on how easy it was to be himself without the switch, around her, she grasped his hand again and requested he now lead her to Vicki.

* * *

"I don't get it. Why do I have to stay cooped up here? Why can't I just go home?"

That was the first thing Rebecca heard when she walked into the library/study room. How many libraries did this house have anyway?

The furniture was old-fashioned - they needed to update - but comfortable enough, she guessed. Damon sat at a desk and picked up a newspaper. Stefan and Vicki were on the other side of the room - Stefan on a chair and Vicki on a sofa.

"Because you're changing, Vicki, and that's not something you wanna do alone," Stefan answered with forced patience.

"Also sunlight," Rebecca said. "It's not your friend."

"Hurts like a bitch," Damon added. "But you're welcome to try walking out the front door."

Rebecca mostly ignored that remark and rolled her eyes. She leaned back against the wall and watched Vicki. She looked like she could burst out of her skin - Rebecca wasn't sure if that was from boredom, restlessness, or hunger. Either way it was potentially problematic and dangerous.

"There's nothing about that Logan guy I killed in here," Damon said way too casually for Rebecca's liking, but she didn't mention it. "Not a word. Someone's coverin' it up."

Damon began twirling the compass he'd stolen - re-stolen? - from Logan in his hand, and Rebecca felt like snatching it away. It was like he was ADD or something - seriously, he couldn't sit still without messing with something. Maybe she should think of inventing Vampire Ritalin.

"What is that?" Vicki asked.

"A very old, very special compass," Damon said. "It tracks vampires."

"Well, if you're worried, why don't you leave?" Stefan asked.

"Uh, I object to that," Rebecca said, raising her hand a little.

"Besides, we should all be worried," Damon said.

Seeing as to how Stefan had been the one to get hurt the night before, Rebecca thought he should know that.

"Hey, I'm hungry; do you have anything to eat?" Vicki asked.

"Yeah, here," Stefan said, handing her a mug.

Vicki was new and Stefan was giving her only enough blood to fill half of a coffee cup? And it was probably animal blood, right? Wouldn't that make it _harder_ to control her thirst? Because that couldn't really satiate her hunger - it wasn't really what she wanted or needed.

"What is it?" Vicki asked, turning her nose up at it.

Rebecca hid her grin at Vicki's obvious distaste by looking down.

"Yeah, Stefan. What is it? Skunk? St. Bernard? _Bambi_?" Damon taunted, but Stefan pretty much ignored him.

Rebecca, however, had a very disturbing picture of a mauled Bambi etched in her brain now. For some reason that even _she_ couldn't fathom, the thought of animals being drained of blood bothered her more than the humans Damon had sucked dry. Not for the first time, she realized something was seriously wrong with her.

"It's what you're craving," Stefan said.

"Hm. Don't lie to the girl. It's so not what you're craving," Damon said. "But it'll do in a pinch, right, Stef? She's new. She needs people blood. She can't sustain on that stuff."

"Mm. Yeah, why can't I have people blood?" Vicki asked.

Rebecca found herself holding back laughter _again_. She was sure the Slayer thing had driven her a little insane because the scene before her should not have been funny; she knew that. Maybe it was the unreality of it all - maybe it still hadn't sunk in that all this stuff was real.

_No, that can't be it. I've almost died a few times in the past month alone. It's real, I know it_.

"Because it's wrong to prey on innocent people, Vicki," Stefan said.

"You don't have to kill to feed," Damon said. "Just find someone really tasty and erase their memories afterward. It's so easy."

Oh, that's why she was laughing - the beautiful blue-eyed man was there and she usually felt joy whenever she was in his presence - barring when he was starved, of course; that had been joyless.

"No, there's no guarantee that you can control yourself, okay? It takes years to learn that. You could easily kill somebody, and you'd have to carry that with you for the rest of your life, which if I haven't been clear, is eternity."

"Don't listen to him. He walks on a moral plane that is _way_ out of our eye-line. I say snatch, eat, erase."

It was like watching a ping-pong match - Rebecca kept having to look from one brother to the other.

"Hey, look at me. We choose our own path," Stefan said. "Our values and our actions, they define who we are."

"You know . . . I don't remember you being this speechy," Rebecca said, not unkindly. "And you can shove that 'freedom of choice' speech. You and I both know you were never good at that." Okay, that last part had been a little bitter, but . . . Now that she'd said it she felt better. Though Stefan did look up at her with impatience burning in his eyes. She wasn't helping any. "Okay, okay, I'll be quiet now. Jeeze."

"Anyway, I'm outta here," Damon said, getting up and walking out.

Well, wait. He wasn't gonna leave her with the lunatic and the new vampire, was he? Granted, she'd been all for forgiving Stefan until he'd locked Damon up; she'd been willing to start anew until then. Was she supposed to follow Damon? Was that what he wanted her to do? Sometimes she couldn't tell with him. And she was torn, anyway. There was a small tug in her chest that was telling her to go after Damon, but there was another part that knew she needed to stay at the boardinghouse with Vicki. Vicki was stuck there, and listening to Stefan talk was about as exciting as watching paint dry. Vicki might want to talk to someone who wouldn't put her down every time she said she wanted human blood.

What was with Stefan anyway? Why did he pretend that human blood wasn't really what he wanted? Was he in denial about the vampire thing? Because really, he'd had 145 years to come to terms with that.

"Uh . . . Elena's here," Stefan said. "Stay with Vicki?"

His eyes were careful now; he knew he had no right to ask her for anything.

"Sure."

Once Stefan was out the door she went to sit by Vicki. She was on her guard, of course, because she wasn't a complete idiot and she was a human and that's what Vicki was craving right now. Vicki as a human had been used to giving into temptation, so it was going to make it harder to help her.

"I saw Jeremy earlier," she said. "He was worried about you."

Vicki didn't respond; she was busy cleaning the cup she'd had with her finger. Rebecca wondered why it didn't gross her out; not Vicki, but herself.

_Maybe because you've had blood in your mouth yourself_, she thought wryly.

"Can I have some more?" Vicki asked.

"Uh, I'll ask Stefan when he gets back." She took the cup from Vicki and put it on the table. "How bad is it?"

"What?"

"The hunger?"

"Oh. I hurt," Vicki said. "My head, my stomach, everything's just . . . I don't know."

"Magnified? Like what you felt before is a thousand times worse now?"

Vicki nodded but didn't speak. Rebecca just felt bad for her. She hadn't wanted this; she hadn't even known what was happening until the last minute.

"Can you hear them?"

"Hear who?"

"Stefan and Elena," Rebecca said, feeling like she was suddenly talking to someone who was mentally handicapped.

"No, it's all mixed together."

"Oh, well, I can help you with that."

Vicki looked at her expectantly.

"Close your eyes and try to find their voices. Once you hear them, focus, and you'll know what they're saying."

Vicki did as she asked and Rebecca smiled a little. She wondered if there were any other Slayers in the history of Slayers that had been sympathetic to vampires.

"They're talking about me," Vicki said. "Jeremy's a part of a search party for me."

Vicki stood up and when Rebecca saw she was leaving the room she followed Vicki. Vicki made her way downstairs where Stefan and Elena were; Stefan was saying something about keeping Vicki there until she was safe.

"How long is that?" Vicki asked impatiently.

Stefan and Elena turned to Vicki and Rebecca. Stefan looked at Rebecca with suppressed irritation.

"What?" Rebecca asked. "You told me to stay with her and here we are."

"How long?" Vicki repeated.

"We can talk about that later," Stefan said.

Rebecca locked eyes with Elena now and she could tell Elena felt bad for Vicki just as Rebecca did.

"Hey, Vicki, how are you?" Elena's voice was genuinely compassionate and sympathetic.

"How am I? You're kidding, right?" Vicki seemed to be bitterly amused. "I woke up dead. How do you think I am?"

Rebecca gently took Vicki's arm into her hand and began leading her to the other two.

"No, she needs to stay up there," Stefan said, his brooding forehead beginning to work overtime.

"No, she needs to be around humans so she can get used to it. She will never learn to resist if she doesn't practice." Rebecca knew Stefan was worried about Elena's safety, so she didn't roll her eyes at Stefan's obvious disapproval. "We will be right here, Stefan. Nothing's gonna happen."

Stefan gave in reluctantly probably because he knew Rebecca was right. It didn't stop him from looking worried, though.

"We can talk in the dining room. I'll make some coffee."

"Coffee?" Elena asked.

"Caffeine is our friend,' Stefan explained, looking at Vicki now. "It circulates through our veins and it warms our bodies, so we're not so cold to the touch."

They made it to the dining room and Elena said at the table. Rebecca sat between her and Vicki - just in case - while Stefan went to make coffee.

"What're you doing here?" Elena asked Rebecca curiously.

Rebecca told her the graduating early story and, just like Jeremy had, she wondered why.

"I have too much on my plate as it is; school isn't something I need to be worrying about."

"Sorry," Elena said sincerely.

Rebecca smiled softly. "Does this mean you're not mad at me anymore?"

"We've been friends for too long for me to let this get in the way. I still don't understand most of it, but . . . No I'm not mad. I'm sorry that you have so much responsibility that's been thrown on you."

_Me too_, Rebecca thought.

* * *

Okay, so . . . What do you think?


	24. Chapter 20

For anyone who's interested, I have two banners for this story on my profile page. They weren't done by me, but the artist put their name on the banners.

Now, on with the story . . .

Chapter Twenty

Once Stefan came back from making coffee Rebecca let him get between Vicki and Elena. Stefan was on one side of Vicki and Rebecca was on the other.

Stefan explained his diet of animal blood and why he did it - so he wouldn't hurt innocent people - and Rebecca started to respect him a little more than she had before.

"Well, what if I wanna drink human blood?"

"You're gonna have to learn to live with that urge," Stefan replied. "And fight it on a daily basis, one day at a time."

"Oh, God." Vicki rolled her eyes. "Don't start with that whole 12-steps thing. The school counselor has been down that road; it doesn't work for me."

"It can work. It's your choice, Vicki."

"So you've never tasted human blood?" Vicki wondered out loud.

"Of course he has," Rebecca said. "He wouldn't be a vampire if he hadn't. It takes human blood to turn."

"But I haven't had human blood in a long time."

"How long?" Vicki pushed.

"Years and years," Stefan answered, obviously uncomfortable with the route the conversation was going, though Elena seemed interested.

Rebecca knew that Vicki was only being this way because she was desperately hungry and she wasn't getting what she wanted. Vicki had been a petulant child, anyway, but add in the hunger and the new vampirism and she was even worse.

"Leave it, Vicki," Rebecca whispered in Vicki's ear, but she knew Stefan would hear. "He's trying to help you."

"I'm not proud of my past behavior," Stefan said.

"Ugh!" Vicki groaned, temporarily distracted. "Does this sketchy feeling ever go away? It's like I have a massive hangover. And this daylight thing is a bitch!"

Vicki was becoming agitated, and an agitated vampire was never a good thing.

"I need more blood." Vicki stood up. "Where's your bathroom? I have to pee." She became confused. "Why do I have to pee? I thought I was dead."

Rebecca bit her lip, holding back a grin, as Vicki stalked off. Neither Stefan nor Damon had been like Vicki. Stefan had been terrifying; Damon had been himself only more extreme. Vicki was a little spazzy, but in an amusing sort of way.

"I'm gonna go get her some more blood," Stefan said. "I'll be quick."

Once Stefan was gone Elena stood up and began pacing. Then she looked at Rebecca. "How are you so calm? How are you not freaking out?"

"I've had longer to get used to it."

"Not that much longer."

"Um . . . Actually, that spell lasted for almost three months. When I came back I started right where I left off, so . . ."

Rebecca had never thought about it, but it was a good thing that she had been able to pick up where she'd left off; she'd never have been able to explain where she'd been.

"Oh."

Vicki came back then, still agitated, and Rebecca stood up because she suddenly felt vulnerable sitting down. She didn't know if it was her Slayer thing telling her to stand up because Vicki was agitated or if it was common sense telling her to.

"False alarm. My body's feeling really funky. It's a good funk, but it's weird."

Things were uncomfortably silent until Vicki took out her phone and Elena asked who she was calling.

"Jeremy," Vicki answered casually.

"Vicki, you can't see Jeremy anymore; you could hurt him."

"I would never hurt Jeremy," Vicki said firmly.

"I know you think that," Elena said, moving closer to Vicki. "But I can't take that risk. You're gonna have to let Jeremy go now."

"Oh, really?" Vicki slammed her phone down on the table. "And how long have you been preparing the you're-not-good-enough speech? I'm assuming it predates the whole vampire thing."

"All I'm saying is Jeremy is not getting involved in any of this. I mean it, Vicki."

"Hm. Or what?" There was suddenly a malicious look in Vicki's eyes, and it was directed at Elena.

_Uh-oh_, Rebecca thought.

And then Vicki had Elena slammed up against the wall with her hand at Elena's throat.

"Let's get one thing straight, you perky little bitch. You had my brother whipped for 15 years. _15 years_! And then you dumped him. When I look at you that is all I see, just so you know. And I'm gonna see Jeremy whenever I wanna see Jeremy, because I have some fun new toys to play with, and I won't think twice about _ripping_ you're little head off. Ya got it?"

Rebecca had been ready and waiting to see what would happen. Just like with Damon, she didn't want to have to fight unless she had to - when she fought a part of her she wished wasn't there came out, so avoiding fighting seemed like a good idea. But Vicki had let go of her own accord, so she had enough control over her anger, it seemed.

Vicki stormed upstairs and Rebecca helped Elena sit down.

"You okay?"

"You didn't do anything. Why didn't you do anything?"

"One, I didn't have to. Two, I needed to see how much control she had. Three, I needed you to see what happens when you piss off vampires. You're a regular human, Elena, they can break you like a twig."

"So, what . . . I'm supposed to crawl under a rock and hide?"

"No, but you shouldn't antagonize them either. And I'm . . . I know you're worried about Jeremy, but if she had any real feelings for him at all when she was human, they're magnified now. Anyone that stands in the way of her being with him will be seen as a threat and she will deal with it the only natural way she knows how to now. By attacking. It's in her nature, and she's new, she's not going to be able to control it. If she sees Jeremy as hers - which she does now - she'll crave his attention as much as she craves his blood."

"Which is exactly why he can't be near her," Elena said. She stood back up. "I think I should go."

"Okay. Do you want me to call you later? Or . . ."

"I would like to know when she gets better."

"Okay, come on."

Rebecca walked Elena to the front door - precaution - and led her outside into the sunlight where Vicki couldn't follow.

"Stefan!" Rebecca called out, and Elena looked around like she was expecting to see him. "He's not here, but, if he's near, he'll have heard me. Vampires have super-hearing."

"Oh . . ."

Elena put a hand to her throat and Rebecca caught her arm to stop her.

"Let me see," she requested and began inspecting the area. It was red but there were no bruises. "You're gonna be fine. Does it hurt to talk or -"

"What happened?" Stefan's voice came from behind her. As always, Rebecca had felt him so he couldn't sneak up on her. He was looking worriedly at Elena.

"She _threatened_ me," Elena exclaimed.

Stefan nodded understandingly. "She's on edge."

"Because she's hungry," Rebecca pointed out. "Add in her other issues and it's a miracle she hasn't _already_ killed somebody."

"Yes, imagine every sense in your body acting on super-speed. She's uncomfortable in her own skin."

"Well, how long before it settles?" Elena asked, trying to understand. "Hours, days, weeks?"

"There's no rulebook."

"Well, how long before you learned to control it?"

"A while. But I didn't have anybody helping me. I had to do it on my own. The thing is, it's hard to resist certain people, especially when you're new. It's difficult to separate your feelings; love, lust, anger, desire. It can all blur into one urge: Hunger."

"What does that mean?" Elena asked.

"It means that Jeremy can't see her, not now. She might not be able to resist him, and she could hurt him."

"Or worse," Elena said.

Elena looked like she didn't know what to say, and Rebecca felt for her, she really did. She remembered what it was like when she'd first found out about all this. She'd been in a state of disbelief, too, until she'd killed her first vampire; that's when everything had hit her. _Everything_ meaning that all of it was real.

"I need to get going," Elena said. "There's only so much I can take."

With that, Elena walked away. Rebecca gave Stefan a moment to brood and then she reminded him about the blood.

"Right."

Rebecca shrugged and began to go back into the house. But then Stefan caught her wrist. She looked down at his hand and then up at him. She was pretty sure her expression was of the 'get your hand off me' variety.

"I'd like to talk to you first."

"You have to touch me to talk to me?"

He let her go like he hadn't even remembered he'd had hold of her wrist.

"I wanted to thank you for not saying anything earlier about me. When Vicki -"

"Oh, that?" Rebecca smiled. "Stefan, that . . . Um, okay, I saw how uncomfortable you were and that was not the time to be discussing the past. Plus, aside from locking Damon up, you're not that bad. I even understand why you did it, if I let myself think of it the way you do. And I'd like to be able to get along with you, okay? And besides . . . That story about what you _were_ . . . That's yours to tell, not mine. I would never tell Elena because it's not my place."

Rebecca was talking so fast her words had begun to bleed together and Stefan looked amused. Ass.

"How is it that out of me and Damon, I'm the one that makes you nervous?"

"Um . . . Because I _know_ Damon. I don't know _you_." Rebecca frowned now and hit him on the arm, hard - if he'd been human, she'd have broken his arm. "And what'd you mean no one helped you? I tried and you wouldn't listen."

Stefan grimaced, rubbing his arm. He obviously knew she was right, and she'd obviously hurt him. Unless he was just pretending, which didn't seem like a Stefan thing to do.

"Was that it?" Rebecca asked, looking around. She still wasn't completely comfortable being alone with Stefan. She didn't think that was weird and he would probably understand if she told him that.

"No. I wanted to say you shouldn't give up your human friends. You shouldn't quit school. You shut out everything human and normal, you're going to become less human yourself."

Rebecca's gaze softened because she could tell he was genuinely concerned for her well-being.

"I'm not shutting my human friends out, Stefan. Elena needs to deal with this on her own; Bonnie has her own thing going on, so I don't wanna intrude; Caroline's off in her own little world; Jeremy's worried about Vicki and I can't stand lying to him. We all have lives outside of each other, but that's okay. And the school thing . . . I'm happy to graduate early. It's one less thing to worry about."

"So, it's not about Damon?" Stefan asked carefully. Damon was not neutral territory for them.

"Sorry, no." Rebecca grinned a little. "Damon had nothing to do with my decision, though the fact that I will get to see him more is a bonus. But I just . . . I think it'll be good. Because if this is going to be my life now, then I'm gonna need all the free time I can get."

"We can take care of this without you, ya know," Stefan said softly. "If you don't feel like doing this."

"No, I can handle it," Rebecca stated firmly. "Just not alone."

* * *

Back inside the house Rebecca called for Vicki, and she appeared at the top of the stairs. Rebecca walked calmly up the steps and stopped beside her.

"Is Stefan back yet?"

"He'll be back shortly. Vicki . . . You gotta try and relax or it'll be worse."

She nodded and breathed through it. "How do you know so much about vampires?"

"My . . . job." Was that even the right word? "Or . . . calling? Whatever, the point is I know about you, and I'm not a threat to you as long as you're not a threat to me or the people I care about."

Vicki looked down for a second and then back up. Rebecca was surprised to see uncertainty all over her face.

"What?"

"Could I really hurt Jeremy?"

"Yes," Rebecca said honestly. "You could _kill_ Jeremy. Sometimes vampires lose control; even the more experienced ones. You shouldn't be with him alone, if you're planning on being with him at all."

"I want to see him," Vicki said. "I _need_ to see him."

"I'll talk to them, okay? You still need to be careful. The feelings you have for him could easily turn into obsession and that's not healthy. For either of you."

The only reason Rebecca was agreeing to all this was because she thought if Vicki had a connection to her human life, it would help make the transition easier. After all, it had helped Damon tremendously when he'd first turned.

* * *

Damon walked into the boardinghouse after having been at the Grill - he'd been eavesdropping, which probably wasn't even considered eavesdropping since he had super-hearing - and immediately heard Rebecca's heartbeat. He hadn't consciously been trying to search it out, but he'd automatically heard it. What was that about?

_Don't overanalyze_, he told himself. _She's here and that's all that matters. It's what you've wanted all this time_.

He could tell she was asleep just from the rhythm of her heart but he followed the sound anyway. Stefan had obviously showed her Damon's room, because that's where she was curled up on the bed.

Her mouth was slightly open and her face was more peaceful than Damon had seen in a while. Her long honey-blond hair flowed out behind her, and he vaguely wondered how she did anything without it getting in the way.

He sat beside her and when she didn't move he caressed her cheek softly, while also worrying about the fact that she couldn't seem to feel that he was there when she was sleeping. That was a weakness that other vampires would exploit. She did, however, feel his fingers on her skin because she smacked his hand away and rubbed her cheek; apparently she was ticklish. She turned on her other side and Damon smirked.

He even felt an unfamiliar _something_ building in his chest . . . It wasn't a bad thing, exactly, but . . . What was it? Then a few genuine huffs of laughter left his mouth until he covered his lips with his hand. He couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed like that; the last time he'd laughed and _meant_ it. And it felt _good_, so good that he wondered why he'd ever stopped wanting to feel that in the first place.

"Damon?" Rebecca was awake now and he looked at her, still feeling happy - was that the right emotion? - and saw she was wiping the sleep from her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Yes?"

"Were you just laughing?"

"Uh-huh."

"What, was I snoring or something?"

"No, I just . . ." Damon was at a loss for words. How was he supposed to explain this to her . . . Explain that he didn't know how to feel, or didn't know how his feelings felt . . .?

"You're happy and you're not used to it?" she offered for him. Thank the Lord, or whatever higher being was watching over this moment.

"Yes."

"It's okay to feel that way, Damon. Happiness is what makes the bad stuff less hard. It evens it out a bit. Besides, I'm supposed to help make you happy; that's what I'm here for."

"Right," Damon said softly. "Can I . . . ask you something without you getting offended?"

And why was he asking her all of a sudden? Why did he have to care about him looking like an idiot or something worse in her eyes? It was infuriating how she could reduce him to someone that was seeking her approval.

"Ask me anything," she said.

"Why're you so nice to me? I mean, it's . . . good. But why? After 145 years, how did you know I wouldn't just kill you?"

"I didn't," Rebecca said, looking down, "but I had to trust you. Because I knew if I didn't give then you wouldn't either. Trust and loyalty were big things for you when you were human, so I just assumed that they were still a part of you. I was hoping, anyway."

Rebecca smiled softly and bit her lip. As always, it drew Damon's attention, but he quickly recovered himself.

"As for why I'm nice to you . . . You haven't given me a reason to be otherwise."

She began to stretch with her hands over her head and Damon watched as her breasts strained against her shirt and her hips moved slightly toward him. His breathing hitched and he wondered if she was doing that on purpose. But when she sat up, now fully awake, he could tell she _hadn't_ been.

_God, she's going to be the real death of me_, Damon thought.

* * *

Rebecca stayed with Damon in his room for a while; she was slightly surprised he didn't try anything - not that he had _before_, it was just . . . They were together now and he seemed to be a very sexual person.

On the other hand, he did respect her and she'd been perfectly clear about not wanting only a physical relationship, so . . . Maybe he was taking his time for her. Or maybe it was because he didn't want her to regret anything dealing with him or anything they did. He had to know she was a virgin, right?

Damon shocked her out of her thoughts by rubbing his thumb over her eyebrows, soothing away the tension she was now aware of.

"You're going to develop a brooding forehead if you're not careful," he teased lightly. "What're you thinkin' about?"

"Not much. Just stuff."

"That's very vague. What kind of stuff?"

Her cheeks went red and Damon smirked. Rebecca turned away from him, not wanting to see his teasing gaze.

"Stop," she muttered. "It's not funny. I mean . . . I'm not . . . Uh . . ."

She felt Damon's hand on her back and relaxed when he began rubbing soothing lines up and down her spine. Her breathing settled down and her heart rate calmed.

"You're not what?"

"You're used to sex and I'm not," she blurted out and turned back toward him. She was surprised to see his gaze wasn't teasing now; he obviously knew this was serious for her. "And I know that . . . guys get frustrated when they don't get it when they want it. And I'm pretty sure you're used to getting it _whenever_ you want it and since I -"

He interrupted her by placing his mouth on hers - he had an _almost_ irritating habit of doing that. If it had been anybody else, she probably would've smacked him. But as it was, she melted into the kiss almost instantly. Her body reacted on instinct and she pulled him closer and, even though she knew she didn't have to hold back with him, she still only used gentle touches with him. She was never rough with people she cared about. Besides Damon needed to get used to her loving touch because she wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

When Damon pulled back - smug as ever - she noticed he had a genuine smile on his face. It made her heart stop for a second and he glanced at her chest like he always did when her heart acted up around him. It still embarrassed her because he had that advantage over her, but she _needed_ her heartbeat, so she digressed.

"Still worried?" His smile turned into his signature smirk.

"Um . . . No?" She was uncertain. "But I still made a valid point."

"Yes, you did," Damon allowed. "Guys do get frustrated, but I have complete control over my libido, thank you very much."

"Nobody has complete control over their libido," Rebecca countered realistically.

"Okay, then how about this? If I do get frustrated, then I won't take it out on you."

Rebecca shrugged and grinned. "Well, good, because if you did I'd have to kick your ass."

"As if you could," Damon said, getting into banter-mode.

"I so could," she said, pretending to be confident, while silently being glad that Damon was on her side; she wouldn't want to go up against him, that was for sure.

"Okay. Whatever helps you sleep at night."

Damon went back to his side of the bed and put his hands behind his head. He was surprised he felt content with just laying here talking - and, okay, kissing a little. What Rebecca had said was true - he _was_ used to having sex whenever he wanted - but that didn't mean he was going to get angry with her.

Damon didn't get it, but he knew some girls - girls like Rebecca apparently - took their virginity very seriously. Granted, since he knew she was one, he didn't want her giving it away to anyone else but him, even though he didn't make a habit of popping cherries or turning girls into women or whatever the hell one called it.

His phone vibrated in his pocket and he noticed Rebecca had her phone out - texting. She wanted to talk without Stefan or Vicki hearing, apparently.

_We need to help Vicki, because Stefan can't. Not with animal blood. And I don't want anyone dying_.

"If you don't, I will. And we know that won't end well."

"And we both know I have no problem ripping your necklace off and compelling you not to do that," he said simply. He wasn't threatening, he was telling the truth. But he did get amused when her eyes developed an angry fire.

"You can't just do that whenever I do something you don't like. That would be like you changing everything about me to fit your liking and that's not fair."

"Why not?" He was trying to protect her, so what was the big deal?

"Because I'm not asking _you_ to change at all!" she exclaimed. "I'm accepting you as you are, and if you take my free will away, that means you're not with me for _me_. You're with me because you wanna control me. And I won't let you do that."

"I don't wanna control you," he said, because that wasn't how he saw it. Again, if he ever compelled her it would be for her own good - like he'd done with her shoulder that one time.

Then suddenly, he was on top of her, holding her hands above her head with one of his own. Okay, maybe he liked being the one in control _a little bit_. He didn't like that he'd gotten the jump on her so easily, but they would discuss that later. Right now he needed to address a different matter altogether.

He ignored the gasp of surprise she let out as he restrained her - he also ignored the slight fear and the serious anger he saw in her eyes. She began to struggle and he tightened his grip enough so she'd know he had no intention of letting her go yet.

"Let me go!" she said through clenched teeth.

"No," he said, smirking. "I don't appreciate you threatening to do something life-threatening because _I_ won't."

"I didn't -"

"Yes, you did. Unintentionally maybe, but you did."

"No, I was telling you one way or the other, it's gonna get done. Now, _get off_!"

Rebecca used her strength and freed her hands and was able to push him so now _she_ was on _him_. Damon hid his surprise very well.

"Besides, if we don't help her, she'll . . . I don't know. I just don't want a trail of bodies that can lead back to you, okay?"

Damon sighed. Apparently it was time to do the distracting thing again, so he brought her swiftly down to meet his lips. She resisted for maybe five seconds, but then he felt her relax. He was really, _really_ happy that she was so responsive - and speaking of responsive, if she kept wriggling, he wasn't going to be able to control his libido as completely as he'd thought.

As his tongue danced with hers he became very aware of her beating heart; it was working overtime. And _he_ was causing it. Rebecca ran her tongue over his teeth and - hello, vampires have sensitive teeth - the sensation was so sudden it went straight to his cock and he embarrassingly let out a small moan.

She was playing with fire, but she slid her tongue over his human but still sharp canines and Damon tasted as she deliberately let her tongue be nicked. His mouth was now filled with the sweet taste of her blood. It was faint, but the fact that she'd done it on purpose kind of turned Damon on a bit.

He knew when she became aware of his stiffening member because she froze mid-kiss and lifted up so she could look at him. She obviously hadn't known the blood would have _that_ effect on him. He was fairly certain it was more because it was _her_ blood, and that she had done that for him.

She was torn between being amused and being bashful, he noticed.

"Um . . ."

She began to move away, but he grabbed her hips and planted her firmly on top of him right _there_. Maybe he was masochistic, but he needed to know what it felt like for them to be pressed together like this. He could feel the heat of her even though they both had jeans on and his mind went straight to what it would be like to have her bare in front of him, and he pressed her harder against him.

"Damon . . . Why're you torturing yourself?" Rebecca asked breathlessly. She was obviously enjoying this too.

. . .

God, she felt good like this, but she wasn't ready to do anything - though she was fairly certain it wouldn't take much prodding from the beautiful man underneath her to get her to change her mind.

_I can't let him know that_, she told herself. But she couldn't act like it didn't affect her either. Because it effected her a lot. Even now her skin was growing warmer from the desire coursing through her.

. . .

Damon sat up a little and latched his lips onto her neck. He nipped with blunt teeth and she gave him better access. He wasn't going to feed from her, not after nearly draining her the other day, but the fact that she was willing to let him pleased him.

"Damon, this . . . We should . . . This can't happen right now. And, like I said, you're torturing yourself."

Instead of getting lost in the huskiness of her voice or the little wanton pants that fell from her mouth, he squeezed her hips one more time and pressed himself against her center. Her eyes widened and he knew he'd sent a jolt of pleasure through her - he'd given her just a _hint_ of the pleasure he could give her, _would_ give her one day. Then, though he _really_ didn't want her to move away, he placed her back on her side of the bed and pretended it wasn't one of the hardest things he'd had to do in the last 145 years.

"I'm not the only one being tortured,' he whispered teasingly, brushing her ear with his lips. "You're not going to be able to stop thinking about that for a while."

With that, he got up to leave the room. He really needed to go somewhere private so he could . . . relieve the tension. Before he walked out he caught one last glance of Rebecca on his bed; she was still catching her breath and trying to regain her usual composure.

He felt a genuine smile tug at his lips as he walked out. It was one of those smiles that you could feel _inside_. It threw him because, like Rebecca had said . . . He wasn't used to being happy. But he didn't want it to go away.

* * *

Rebecca was silently cursing Damon to the fiery pits of Hades for getting her worked up and then just leaving the room like he hadn't been affected at all. She had _told_ him they couldn't do anything and yet . . . He'd done that on purpose. And now her body was hot all over and she felt restless. Like she should jump up and down so she wouldn't be so full of energy.

She squeezed her thighs together and groaned when it didn't relieve the pressure that had built up there.

Damon Salvatore was a tease, and it wasn't fair.

She got up on shaky legs and wobbled a bit. She heard a weird vibrating noise and looked at the beside table. She'd put her phone there before she'd gone to sleep, so she picked it up. Sheriff Forbes - yeah, she was on Rebecca's contact list now.

"Hello?"

Liz knew Rebecca knew about vampires and had fought a few and had won, obviously, but that was _all_ she knew. The Slayer thing was still a secret. Rebecca hadn't felt comfortable telling a bunch of people who didn't like supernatural things that she herself was one.

"Are you alone?" the sheriff's voice held a note of authority, and Rebecca could tell this was _not_ a social call; not that Sheriff Forbes knew how to relax and have fun at all. Rebecca didn't even know if Liz ever went home - for all she knew, Liz had a place to sleep at the police station.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Your dad filled you in on what happened at the cemetery?"

"Yeah, I got enough, why?"

"Well, we got the coroner's report back and it was concluded that it was the work of _one_ vampire."

"Oh?" God, her voice sounded false to her own ears. "Really?"

"Yes. The jaw pattern, the bite marks, they're the same."

"Oh, well, that's good, right? We only have to find one."

_I hate this. I shouldn't have gone to her. She's so gonna know I'm lying._

"Right. It's just finding it is going to be a problem."

Rebecca had to bite her lip so she wouldn't say that vampires weren't its, they weren't _things_, and _most_ of them hadn't had a choice in the matter; something had happened that wasn't their fault.

"Why?"

"Well, we've checked all the abandoned buildings and other places it could be holed up. Nothing."

"Maybe they're not living in town. They get around pretty fast."

Really, did the Council only know the drinking blood part? Because any _normal_ human wouldn't go after something that was faster and stronger than themselves.

"I know. That wasn't the only reason I called. I talked to the mayor and he said any help is good help, so . . . I know you've got a lot on your plate, what with you wanting to graduate early, so we decided to give you the rest of the month and then after you take the test we'll see about what we can do about getting you in, okay?"

"Sounds good. Still, if you need help . . ." Rebecca let the offer stand.

"Thank you."

After they hung up, Rebecca sat back on the bed and groaned. She hated lying, she wasn't good at it, and she was always scared someone was going to call her on it. Then they'd string her up for her fraud.

_Stop thinking about it for now_, she told herself. Sheriff Forbes had been right; Rebecca did have a lot on her plate at the moment, more than Liz knew.

She walked out of Damon's room and went to Stefan's instead because that was where Vicki was. Vicki had to be bored stiff, having been kept inside because of the sun. Well, the sun was down now, but she still couldn't go out on her own, not now.

Vicki had the radio on some rock station and was just lying on the bed, looking up at the ceiling.

"Uh, what're you doing?"

"Just contemplating the next hundred years," she said, sounding almost gloomy.

Rebecca didn't know what to say to that, seeing as to how she herself couldn't contemplate what she was going to do from day to day - her life was _that_ unpredictable - so she didn't say anything. She just went and sat beside the new vampire.

"I'm still hungry," Vicki said, "and you smell really good."

_That's not encouraging_, Rebecca thought. But, hey, at least Vicki wasn't attacking her. That was good, she guessed.

"And I'm bored."

Vicki sat up slowly and Rebecca began waiting for Vicki to get done whining; not that she didn't have a reason to complain, because she did.

"All I think about is blood, I just want some blood, I can't think about anything else. What is that about?"

"Um, well . . ." The obvious answer was 'you're hungry' but Rebecca didn't just want to say that because that wasn't the least bit helpful.

"That'll ease up," Damon said from the doorway where he was drying his hands on Stefan's robe. "You've just been cooped up all day. So let's go."

"Where?" Vicki asked, excitement now lighting her eyes.

"Your life was pathetic; your afterlife doesn't have to be."

Rebecca rolled her eyes at Damon's comment because that was . . . Rude but accurate, like most of the things he said.

"Does this mean you're helping?" Rebecca asked. The only response she got was a shrug.

Once Vicki was ready, the three of them went downstairs and was stopped by Stefan - he looked at them with disapproval.

"She's been cooped up in your room all day," Damon said. "She's not Anne Frank."

Rebecca vaguely wondered if Damon had known Anne Frank personally, and then she had one of those moments where she felt that her life was wrong on _so_ many levels.

"This is a bad idea, Damon," Stefan said, frowning. Not that that was any different from any of the other times Rebecca was around Stefan - he didn't know how to smile anymore, she was almost certain of it.

"It's not like I'm taking her to Disneyland, we're goin' to the front yard."

Vicki was pretty much jumping up and down from the idea of going outside after being stuck inside all day. It was almost endearing, which was odd because Rebecca hadn't found Vicki endearing at all when she'd been human.

"She's a vampire, Stefan, she should know the perks."

"Like what?"

"Like . . ."

Damon moved so fast Rebecca hadn't seen him until he stopped behind Vicki. Vicki was checking the sky like she thought he could fly, which he couldn't . . . right? Sure, Rebecca had seen it in movies where vampires could fly, but she had never read it in any of her books.

When Damon touched Vicki's shoulder, Vicki spun around and looked at him with open mouthed surprise; Stefan, however, was looking on with worry, like there were so many things that could go wrong, which, admittedly, it could.

"How did you do that?"

Then Damon did it again and Stefan actually put his hands on his hips and stomped his foot.

Rebecca bit her lip and shook her head; Stefan and Damon were entertaining, to say the least, and she was glad she'd met them.

"Come on, Vicki. Live a little," Damon said, gesturing for her to try the speed she got from being a vampire. "No pun intended."

Rebecca watched as Vicki took off into the woods near the house and then a bad feeling settled in. Better late than never, right? Vicki . . . Wasn't going to come back.

"Uh . . . Tsk. My bad," Damon said like he didn't care one way or another, and Rebecca sighed semi-impatiently.

"Did you do that on purpose?" Stefan asked.

"No, I was _helping_." He eyed Rebecca when he said the last word and she felt like hitting him.

"No, that was you showing her she can run real fast and get away." Rebecca turned to Stefan. "We need to find her. Um . . . She would either go to Matt or Jeremy. Or there's a Halloween thing at school. And she does like to party; plus all the tasty humans."

God, Vicki could cause a massacre . . . And Damon didn't even care, Rebecca realized. _And why should he_? She thought bitterly, _He has what he wants. Me. And I'm just . . . letting him have me even though it seems like he couldn't care less about what happens to anyone else_.

"I'm gonna go to Elena's, make sure they're okay, and then I'm gonna stay there until you find Vicki, okay?"

Stefan nodded. "Yeah."

Stefan began to turn away, but much like Stefan had done to her earlier, she grabbed his wrist.

"Wait. I'm sorry. I asked Damon to help her, but I didn't think she'd run away. I just thought that he'd be able to help her with . . . The human stuff. And I don't want anybody getting hurt, including her, Stefan. Okay? So can we try not to kill her unless we have to?"

"I don't want anyone getting hurt either, Rebecca."

"Good."

She let go of his wrist and she noticed Damon was fuming silently a few feet away. Uh-oh, what was he upset about now? God, he had vampire PMS - Pissy Male Syndrome.

Well, whatever it was . . .

"Get over it," she said. "Whatever's got your boxers in a twist, get over it."

Then he turned his icy glare on her and she realized she maybe shouldn't have said that.

"You and Stefan are BFF's now?" Damon asked.

Rebecca sighed, hurt again by his distrust, and didn't dignify that with a response. She just turned around and went to her car. Her things were already in it, so she didn't need to collect them. But before she could get in, he'd backed her up against it and was invading her personal space. To her credit, she didn't so much as flinch even though she was close enough to feel his breath on her face.

"What? I can't even talk to your brother? Is that one of your rules or something?"

He had her arms in a vice-like grip, much like he had when he'd thought she'd been with Jeremy, and she was sure he was re-bruising her skin, but she refused to let him know he was hurting her. It was a pride thing.

"I'm gonna talk to whoever I _want_ to talk to, Damon, even your brother. If . . . If you can't bring yourself to trust me, that's not _my_ fault. That's something you have to deal with on your own. I can't help you with that. Now get your hands off me."

When she struggled he just pressed her against the car more and leaned over to whisper in her ear, "I don't like to share, Becca."

A surge of anger went through her and she shoved him away and broke his grip on her arms.

"Stop it! If you don't quit acting that way, you're not gonna _have_ anything to share because _I'm_ not the one letting Stefan get in the way! That's all you!"

She felt the embarrassing sting of tears and she turned away; she still didn't want him to know, to see what he was doing to her; she wasn't going to give him that satisfaction. She took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds before letting it out.

"I don't appreciate being manhandled every time you're in a bad mood, so stop it. I can take a _lot_, but I will not allow myself to be mistreated." She looked at him now that she didn't have the urgent need to cry. "I have more self respect than that, so keep it up, Damon, see how long this _doesn't_ last."

With that, she left him there hoping she'd gotten through that thick skull of his.

* * *

Okay, so a slight make out session and then a fight afterwards. Sounds like a normal couple right? And yes, Damon still has trust issues, but I promise he will work them out. It's just because he's been alone for so long. Anyway, let me know what you think, please.


	25. Chapter 21

Okay, this is a long one. I think it came out as 21 computer pages.

Enjoy!

Oh yeah . . . previously, Damon was being jealous again and she drove off in a huff, so . . . continuing from there . . .

Chapter Twenty-one

As Damon watched the taillights fade into the night he felt something he was fairly certain was shame and guilt, but he quickly shut it out.

So what if he didn't like sharing his whatever-Rebecca-was with his brother. He didn't think anyone could blame him for that, not after their history. And he hadn't been manhandling her or mistreating her, had he? No, he'd been . . . Staking his claim, letting her know he thought of her as his. She had been his reason for existing for the last 145 years; he'd wanted to get back to her. And so, yeah . . . Claiming her as his was . . .

_Very caveman of me_, Damon admitted to himself. _And obviously not something she likes_.

But it wasn't like the sentiment wasn't returned. Now that he had her he wouldn't stray. Besides he'd had 145 years worth of straying and not once had any girl captivated him like Rebecca had and still did.

He liked the way she thought, the way she explained herself, the way she wasn't repulsed by vampires just because they were vampires. Which was odd in and of itself because she was the Slayer. By definition she should hate all things supernatural, but she had looked past the vampire thing - even before _he'd_ become one - to try to see the person behind the demon - not that he thought he was a demon, just not human.

"Hm. She's the one that needs to get over it," Damon muttered, going back into the boardinghouse.

He was feeling extra petulant and childish so he slammed the door behind him just so he could hear the noise it made. It brought him no joy.

"Damn," he said, annoyed now.

It seemed his peace of mind had gone with Rebecca when she'd left. It seemed she had as much power over him as he did over her.

Double damn.

* * *

When Rebecca arrived at Elena's the first thing she did before she even got out of the car was call her dad to tell him she was at Elena's and she didn't know how long she'd be there.

Rebecca had decided that since she was being mostly truthful she could at least do that now, and it would keep them from arguing as much. Her dad had been strict because he'd known about vampires. She understood it now. She thought he'd gone about it the wrong way, but she saw why he'd done it. It didn't excuse his behavior, though, even if his keeping Rebecca home to take care of Chelsea had just been a way of protecting her, but she could forgive him as long as he tried to do better.

As with most things in life . . . She would have to give to get.

When Rebecca got inside Elena told her that Matt had called; Vicki was with him. Rebecca texted Stefan to let him know, so hopefully he could take care of it on his own.

Jeremy was upstairs and Jenna had class again, so Elena and Rebecca were free to talk openly.

"So . . . Are you here to baby-sit?" Elena asked, trying to lighten the situation a little.

"Yup."

"Oh. Good. Jeremy wanted to go see Vicki as soon as Matt called. I tried to explain he needed to stay away from her, that she was dangerous, but I . . . I didn't know what to say."

"You could've gone with the truth."

"Yeah, that would've gone well."

Rebecca nodded knowingly and Elena looked at her sympathetically.

"That's you every day, isn't it? Never knowing what to say or how much? It sounds lonely."

"It is. But having friends helps a lot. And now you know so . . ." Rebecca sighed. "How're you doing with all of this?"

Elena's shoulders straightened up, like she was trying to look stronger than she was. "I don't know. I told Stefan I couldn't be with him but that I wouldn't tell anyone."

"You broke up with him because he's different?" Rebecca asked, not able to hide the judgment in her voice. She had thought better of Elena.

"No, I broke up with him because it scares me. He's, I mean . . . I don't know. He said he doesn't kill to survive, but . . ."

"Okay, speaking as a friend . . . If you like him, the other stuff shouldn't matter. If you can be happy with him, you shouldn't _let_ the other stuff matter."

"But it's not that simple."

"It can be if you let it be."

That was when she figured out how she could be with Damon when she knew he could up and kill someone tomorrow if he had to. She _let_ it be simple. She liked him - or loved him - so the other things didn't matter.

There was a creak on the stairs. "Jeremy's coming."

Jeremy stepped into the kitchen and went to the fridge to get some water.

"Hey, Becca," Jeremy said. "I saw your Dad's car outside."

"Yeah, um . . . I came over to visit and see if you'd heard from Vicki."

"I know she's with Matt, but she hasn't called me, no."

"Oh."

That was surprising since Vicki had been so adamant about seeing Jeremy earlier. Maybe what Rebecca had said about her maybe hurting Jeremy had gotten through and she wouldn't be alone with him. Matt, on the other hand . . . Vicki was alone with him right now.

"Uh . . . I'll be right back."

She went out on the porch and dialed Stefan's number after consciously skipping over Damon's - he wouldn't be any help, not now; he was upset with her anyway. She hadn't forgotten their argument; she just had more important things to worry about.

"Hello?"

"Hey, uh, is Matt okay?"

"Yeah. I'm keeping watch, but he wouldn't invite me in. I can't get in."

"He doesn't have vervain in his system; compel him to let you in."

"I can't."

Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Now's not the time to have a moral crisis. Just -"

"No, I mean, I can't. It . . ." She heard Stefan sigh. "Because I don't drink human blood my compulsion doesn't always work right. It's easy to reverse by other vampires, and sometimes it fades away."

"Oh. Well, did you want me to come over since I can actually get inside?"

"No, it'll probably just agitate her. That . . . wouldn't go well."

"Okay," Rebecca agreed easily. "Well, just call if they leave, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll see you later."

"Mm-hm."

Rebecca went back inside after she hung up and went to the kitchen where Elena was asking Jeremy if he wanted to go to the Halloween party at the school.

"Sure. Sounds, uh . . . Sounds fun, can't wait." Jeremy's tone suggested he'd rather have been doing something else - or anything else.

"I know you're upset about Vicki, but you can't be with her. She needs to get better; the best thing you can do for her is let her go."

Rebecca suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. Elena obviously didn't _really_ know what it was like to care about someone. When you loved someone you didn't run away just because they had problems; no, you try and help them.

"What does that even mean 'let her go'?" Jeremy asked. "Oh, okay, sure. Since we're such experts on letting people go, right?"

"I know you may not see it, but trust me, Jer, it's for the best."

Elena looked at Rebecca, seeking help, but Rebecca looked at the floor. Elena would not get help from _her_ because Rebecca didn't agree with how Elena was handling the situation. She should've told Jeremy the truth; he _needed_ to know so he could make his own decision on the matter.

"For months after Mom and Dad died, I felt like crap," Jeremy said, moving closer to Elena. "Like nothing-really-even-mattered crap. Then all of a sudden I started having these moments where things started to feel just a little bit better and Vicki was in every single one of them. So you may not see it, but trust me . . . Keeping me away from her is not for the best."

Then Jeremy walked out of the kitchen and went back upstairs.

Rebecca sat at the kitchen table and clasped her hands in front of her.

"I still think he should know the truth so at least he'd be prepared if she ever came here."

"No," Elena said firmly.

Rebecca sighed, trying to keep her patience. "Look, I know you're trying to protect him. I get that. I do. But if you keep coddling him from the big bad world, you're only gonna turn him into someone who will get us all killed."

"Becca . . ."

"No." She stood up again. "Just no. He won't know what to watch out for, he won't know not to invite her in, he won't know how to defend himself if - no, _when_ - she finds him. If he doesn't go to her, she will seek him out and you can't be with him all the time; you just can't, and what then?"

Elena had already made her mind up and Rebecca knew that she wouldn't be able to get through no matter what she said, but she _had_ to say these things because they were true and she was worried about what was going to happen to Jeremy because of all these lies. Elena, however, didn't respond to any of what she'd said.

"Fine. But if anything happens to Jeremy, it's on you," Rebecca seethed. "If he was my brother -"

Elena's eyes flashed with anger. "But he's _not_ your brother." Then Elena walked away leaving a fuming Rebecca in the kitchen.

Rebecca didn't know what Elena's problem was. Well, yes, she knew the problem was she'd found out her boyfriend was a vampire and that one of her best friends was a Slayer who was with another vampire. Rebecca wasn't stupid; she got that that was stressful. But she didn't know why Elena had just snapped at her like that.

And instead of Rebecca feeling hurt from it, she felt angry.

* * *

Rebecca ended up going to the Halloween party with Elena and Jeremy, mostly because she'd said she would keep an eye on them and she wasn't one for not following through on her word. If she said she was going to do something, she did it. The only thing that she wasn't honest about was her secret and then, of course, Damon's and Stefan's secret, but that was unavoidable.

Elena had dressed as a nurse; Jeremy was a hooligan - pretty much dressed as himself; Rebecca had just thrown something together and she now looked like a gypsy. She had a white ruffle-shirt that came a few inches above her belly-button so her midriff was bare. She felt slightly uncomfortable showing that much skin, but she dealt with it. The sleeves of the shirt covered the slight discoloring of her skin from Damon's fingers, which was good because she didn't want to hear Elena bitch about it. She wore a long peasant skirt - red with sequins that sparkled when light hit them. She wore sandals, because wasn't that what gypsy's wore back in the day?

Her accessories were a red bandana, which she wore in her hair, and a few gold bangles on her wrist. She still had on her vervain-filled cross necklace, but that was because it was a necessity.

She became aware of a few guys - namely Matt and Tyler - looking at her. Matt looked more surprised than anything else, but Tyler looked interested. A few of the lower classmen were looking, too, but as soon as they caught her eye they would glance away quickly.

She knew that her body had become even more toned since she had begun training and it made her curves even more pronounced; that's what everyone was looking at.

Elena, Jeremy and Rebecca ran into Caroline and Bonnie. Rebecca stayed to chat with them but kept an eye on Elena and Jeremy too.

"Oh, my God! I love your costume," Caroline squealed, hugging Rebecca. Rebecca guessed all was forgiven about the Damon thing . . .

"Uh, thanks. I just threw it together an hour ago. You guys look great too."

Both Caroline and Bonnie were dressed as witches. Caroline had on a purple corset number, with sparkles all over her body. The only reason Rebecca could guess witch was because of the conical hat on her head. Bonnie's usual dark hair was covered by a blond wig and Rebecca began playing with the plastic dream hair.

Then she noticed Bonnie was wearing the necklace they'd taken from the Lockwood mansion. She didn't mention it because Caroline was standing right there and would've started asking questions that neither of them could've answered honestly.

"Cider for the ladies?" Tyler asked, coming up behind them. "It's a Lockwood special."

"Oh, no way," Bonnie said. "Last year, I was hung-over until Thanksgiving.

Rebecca giggled at that, but shook her head at the proffered drink. "No thanks. I have to be responsible tonight, can't drink."

"Well, _I_ am going to drink until someone is hot enough to make out with," Caroline said, taking a drink from Tyler. Rebecca couldn't tell if Caroline had been joking about the making out thing, but knowing Caroline . . . She'd probably been completely serious.

"Sounds like a plan." Tyler clinked his glass against Caroline's and they both began sipping. Then, in a sudden act of kindness, "Do either of you want something that doesn't have anything in it?"

"I'm good," Rebecca said. "And I'm gonna go back to Elena and Jeremy now. Uh . . . Bonnie, Caroline . . . Can I call you guys later?"

"You know you don't have to ask, Becca," Bonnie said. "You can call anytime."

"Yeah, I mean, we haven't seen each other a lot lately, but we're still your friends," Caroline said, and Rebecca could tell Caroline was being sincere for once.

Rebecca felt a sudden surge of guilt go through her, because . . . She was letting Damon feed from Caroline. She wasn't being a good friend at all.

"Thanks, you guys."

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Grill, Damon was up to some harmless flirting. Harmless, because that's _all_ he was doing and it wasn't even genuine flirting. He was just trying to get information out of Carol Lockwood, who was a little drunk.

She'd remembered who he was from the Founder's party and even who he'd been with. He'd tried compelling her, but she had a vervain bracelet, so . . . He'd done the next best thing, which was buying her a few drinks.

"So, you need vervain?" he asked. She was drunk enough to have spilled that little secret.

"Yes. My husband and I only have left what his parents left him. And Zach had promised that he could supply us with more."

Zach had been growing the damnable herb, but it was proving useful.

"Well, I talk to him all the time, so why don't I just ask him?" They both took a sip of their drinks, while he let her think. "How much do you need? I mean, how many people do you think?"

"Well, there's our children, of course. And friends, family, and everyone on the Council."

"The Council?"

Damon could tell Carol thought she'd said too much when she said, "Zach knows how many."

_Yeah, well, Zach is dead, so that doesn't help me_, Damon thought impatiently.

Carol put her drink down and giggled. "You know what? I am _so_ late. My husband is not going to be happy with me."

"Well, are _you_ happy with your husband?" he asked, and smiled seductively. Earlier, when Damon had been a few booths down, he'd seen Carol and her husband arguing.

"You're flirting with me," she said, smiling back.

"You flirted with me first."

"True."

They both laughed and stopped flirting at the same time; he was taken and so was she. Granted, neither he nor she was exactly happy at the moment, but the situation was still the same.

"Let me escort you to the school. It's not safe out there . . . alone. I mean, I've seen ten vampires tonight."

"Well, if only the real ones were as easy to find," Carol said.

"How's that search going?"

"Oh, well, we had the Founder's party and anyone who arrived during the day was eliminated as a suspect."

"Oh . . ." Both he _and_ Stefan had arrived during the day, so they were safe.

"And all the rest were just dead ends, so . . . Anyway, I gotta go."

"Okay."

* * *

Back at the school Rebecca was having a little fun. She, Matt, Elena, Caroline, Bonnie, Tyler, and even Jeremy were in a group dancing together. Music filled her head as she whirled around, arched, twisted, and spun around again. She even had Jeremy smiling a little. He kept looking around, for what Rebecca didn't know, but she continued dancing anyway.

As she swung her hips she bumped into all three guys. Though she knew Jeremy and Matt didn't _care_ she made sure Tyler knew she didn't mean anything by it.

Eventually Bonnie had to go in the school to get more candy - she was on candy duty for the night - and Rebecca went with her.

"So . . . Your necklace . . ." Rebecca began. "Your Grams gave it to you?"

"Yeah. She said it's a witch's talisman or something. She said it belonged to the most powerful witch in our family."

"Emily Bennett," Rebecca said, nodding. "Yeah, that's what she said when I gave it to her."

"Why _did_ you give it to her?"

Rebecca shrugged. "Because I didn't know what else to do with it."

The two of them made it to the cafeteria and loaded a bunch of candy into some paper bags.

"Okay, come on."

Rebecca picked up two of the bags and left two for Bonnie. They went outside and found a big cauldron pot to pour the candy in, and that was when Rebecca felt the familiar sensation of Damon being really close, so she turned around. He was right behind her.

She didn't speak to him; she just continued pouring the candy into the pot. He was not forgiven for acting the way he had earlier.

"What, no hug?" he asked sarcastically.

"Are you in a better mood?"

When she looked at him now she noticed he was slowly taking in her costume. He seemed to like it. She shook herself out of it because Bonnie was here, too, and _she_ didn't know Rebecca was still hanging around Damon.

"What are you doing here?" Bonnie asked.

"It's Halloween. I'm enjoying the party," Damon said, glancing briefly at Bonnie. Rebecca noticed that his gaze dropped to the necklace and she could tell Damon recognized it. It wasn't surprising since he'd been alive back then.

"Just stay away from us," Bonnie said, and Rebecca smiled a little a Bonnie's boldness.

"Bonnie, it's, uh . . . It's okay. It's a free country, he can be here if he wants."

"Hm . . . Well." Bonnie didn't say anything, she just grabbed Rebecca's arm and began tugging, but Damon grabbed her other arm to keep her in place.

_Oh, here we go again_, she thought, feeling like screaming.

All thoughts of screaming went out the window when Bonnie clutched at her chest after letting go of Rebecca's arm. Bonnie had to catch herself on the cauldron so she wouldn't fall over.

"Bonnie?" Rebecca yanked away from Damon to help a steadily collapsing Bonnie Bennett. "Bonnie's what's happening?" Was she having a heart attack? She _was_ clutching at her chest like it hurt.

"Come on," Damon said, gently drawing Rebecca away and then picking Bonnie up in his arms. "We gotta get away from prying eyes."

"Yeah, okay."

Rebecca willingly followed him - she put aside the anger from their argument for the time being. Damon led her into the school. It really scared Rebecca because Bonnie wasn't fighting, and her dislike of Damon would've made her fight.

"Is she even awake?" Rebecca asked, her throat feeling full. "Is she -"

"She's still breathing, and her pulse is fine, but she's unconscious. Where's the nurse's office?"

"Um . . . Come on."

She began leading the way now and, even though it felt like hours, they were in the nurse's office within a minute and he was placing Bonnie on the little cot bed that was there.

"So . . . What has the little witch stumbled into?" Damon asked, tilting his head just-so, so he could examine Bonnie. Rebecca almost thought he was talking to himself.

She left him to it, fairly certain Bonnie was safe for now with him, and went in search of those pink things that you put beneath the nose of a person who's fainted. What the hell were they called, anyway?

What had happened? Bonnie had been fine until Damon had grabbed Rebecca. Maybe there had been some kind of weird transference or something. Something had passed from Damon _through_ Rebecca and into Bonnie?

"We should get her to her Grams, maybe she could help," Rebecca said, knowing Damon could hear. "When it comes to the mystical side of things I'm lost. That's so off my pay grade."

She opened a drawer and began going through the stuff and came up with nothing.

"You . . . recognized the necklace,' she said, and felt the air shift as Damon stopped behind her. "Emily's necklace."

"Yeah. Emily gave it to Katherine before Katherine was taken away. Then it was given to me."

"What?"

Damon noticed Rebecca's jaw had clenched when he'd said Katherine's name. She'd basically turned her nose up at it. Well, no time like the present for a story, he guessed.

"That night when I told you I'd be back, I went to Emily and asked her to save Katherine. I promised to do anything if she would save her."

Rebecca crossed her arms in front of her and set her jaw angrily.

"Not my fault," he said. "I was under compulsion at the time, remember?"

"Yes. Go on." Her voice was still clipped, though.

"Emily harnessed enough power in that necklace to save them, the ones in the church."

Rebecca nodded, remembering what Emily had told her. "They're under the church in a tomb."

Damon's face showed his surprise at her knowledge.

"Uh, Emily told me," she said. "I didn't know you were the one who asked her to do it, though."

"You . . . never said anything."

"Well, after she told me I was waiting for you to wake up, and then after you realized what had happened I didn't think you'd want to know." She wanted to reach out, grab his arm or something, but she didn't know if he'd want her to. "Anyway, what did she want in return?

"She wanted me to make sure her lineage survived."

"Bonnie," Rebecca said, suddenly remembering her friend. "I was trying to find one of those sniff-y things to wake her up, but I guess -"

"She didn't hit her head, she'll wake up on her own."

"Okay."

Damon watched as Rebecca sat down and began fidgeting, running her fingers through her hair; she was really worried.

"Okay, what is it? Bonnie's not hurt, so there's something else."

"She . . . has visions sometimes, Damon. She sees things, and obviously this was something very powerful to make her react like that."

"And you want to know what it was?" he deduced.

"Yeah and . . . The night of the Founder's party something happened to her. She went into a trance and I think she was possessed for a second. She said 'You can't let them out' which I didn't know what it meant until just now. Then Bonnie didn't remember any of it. She didn't even remember giving me the crystal. I gave it to Grams, and Grams gave it to her."

Damon sat beside her just to give her the sense that she wasn't alone. She had all these problems to deal with on top of the Slayer thing that sometimes he didn't know how she functioned, and she was so worried about everyone else she sometimes didn't have time to worry about herself.

"Okay . . . So, if she agreed to do what you asked - and she did because she told me that even though she thought being a vampire was a curse not all of them deserved to die - then why all of a sudden is the tomb not supposed to be opened? I know she said only a Bennett witch could do it, but I know Sheila probably wouldn't go for it, and Bonnie's not experienced enough."

Damon shrugged. There was nothing in the tomb he wanted, so it didn't matter to him.

"Could you at least pretend to care?" Rebecca asked quietly. "I mean, even I don't care bout the ones in the tomb . . . I care about what's happening to Bonnie. I mean, what if something's trying to take her over permanently? She's a good friend and I don't want to lose her.

"I don't know anything more than you do," Damon said. "Maybe you should ask your Watcher, that's what she's there for."

"Oh, right." Rebecca grimaced. "I haven't talked to her in a while. She probably thinks I'm dead. I'll call her tomorrow."

Damon sighed and stood up. "Bonnie's waking up. Are you . . . good now?"

He wasn't used to asking that question and meaning it, so it came out weird, nervous and tentative, and it annoyed him because that voice didn't belong to him; he wasn't that person.

"Yeah, I think I just needed to vent."

They both went to the room with the bed in it, and Rebecca helped Bonnie sit up when her eyes flew open.

"Bonnie, you scared me half to death!" she said. "What happened? What did you see?"

Bonnie looked timidly over at Damon before glaring half-heartedly; she was apparently too weak to do anything more.

"He knows about you, so you can be straight with us."

"You told him?" Bonnie asked, now turning her glare to Rebecca.

"No, he was there that night we had dinner at Elena's, remember? _She_ brought it up."

"Oh. Right. Well, that's okay then."

"So . . . What did you see?"

"I didn't see anything exactly. It was more a feeling. I felt . . . wrong, like something was missing - that was when I was just touching you."

"And then . . . When Damon touched me . . ." Rebecca led her on.

"It was worse - like it was the same thing, only _more_. It actually made my heart hurt. There was so much pain and loneliness and I just couldn't deal with it. I just wanted it to stop, to go away."

Rebecca swallowed convulsively as Bonnie began to cry. She must've felt what Damon had felt after Rebecca had had to leave him in the past. It was magnified, though, because Damon was a vampire.

"So your body shut it off," Damon said softly.

Rebecca looked at him and he just met her gaze steadily. God, was that how he'd felt for the last 145 years? Lost and alone? Was that why he'd shut everything out? He just hadn't been able to deal with it on his own. And that was why he was the way he was now; he just didn't know how to handle people he genuinely cared for. Even her. He probably didn't even remember how to have a relationship anymore.

When Damon had begun to speak Bonnie had snapped out of it and was now fidgeting on the bed.

"How'd I get here?"

"Damon carried you."

Bonnie looked at Damon, shook her head, and looked back at Rebecca. "I think I'm gonna go home."

"Do you need someone to go with you? Are you feeling sick or dizzy?"

"No, I'm . . . okay. But I'll call you later tonight."

"Good, when you get home so I know you got there okay."

"Yeah, I will."

* * *

A few minutes after Bonnie left Damon got a call from Stefan, telling him that Vicki was at the party and he wanted to know if Damon would help find her. So Stefan met up with him and Rebecca and let them know Jeremy had disappeared.

Damon heard Rebecca groan and curse under her breath. Right, her precious Jeremy was in trouble. Maybe. Then he watched her take a deep breath and close her eyes, and he just had to know . . .

"What're you doing?"

"Reaching out, trying to find her. I told you once I could feel vampires."

"Yeah, but won't Stefan and I get in the way of that?"

"No, I've been around you and Stefan enough to tell the difference. If she's anywhere in the school or here at the party at all I will feel her."

When Rebecca opened her emerald eyes Damon could tell she was in Slayer mode. She held herself very differently now than she normally did. Usually she was relaxed, but now every step she took had a purpose behind it.

Finding Jeremy, helping Jeremy, and helping Vicki or stopping her; whichever came first.

Rebecca pointed in the general direction of where she felt Vicki was. Stefan took off running and Rebecca stood still for a second and grabbed at her skirt. She pulled it up to reveal a wooden stake that was bound to her right calf.

Damon smirked at her. "You always carry that thing around?"

Rebecca shrugged. "I usually have it in a bag. Do you need one?"

She lifted the right side of her skirt up higher and Damon's mouth went dry. Her skin was tan and looked silky smooth. He clenched his hands to his sides so he wouldn't reach out to feel if it was as soft as it looked.

_Damn her for wearing that costume_, Damon thought. _What's she showing off her body for anyway_?

He'd seen the way every male at the party had been eyeing her. He understood why - her body was magnificent, and in the right light she even had a certain glow about her - but he didn't have to like it.

"Damon?" She handed him the stake and pulled one off her thigh. "Mouth looks better closed."

"Mouth . . . What?"

Rebecca grinned and blushed. "You were staring."

"That's because you're practically half-naked, and I am made of male parts."

"I remember," she said, flushing further. "Come on."

Damon put the stake in his jacket pocket and Rebecca kept hers behind her back. She let him lead now that they had a direction to start from, and he concentrated on listening for Stefan or Elena or Jeremy. He wasn't exactly familiar with the last; he'd barely said two words to the kid. Then he heard a scream and grabbed Rebecca and held her firmly against him.

"Close your eyes," was the only warning he gave before he took off faster than a bullet. She had her arms around his neck and was holding on tightly and he noticed she had listened and closed her eyes. Her heartbeat had picked up and he wondered if it was fear or exhilaration. Whatever the reason, she hadn't complained when he'd grabbed her without warning and had taken off.

She showed him more trust than he thought he deserved, but he appreciated it nonetheless. Especially after their little fight earlier.

He finally reached where the scream had come from - behind the school where the busses were kept. The scene they found would've been sad if he wasn't so indifferent to the situation.

Vicki had been staked through the heart and had mummified; Stefan had done it. Elena was crying and bleeding, and Jeremy was flipping out, screaming Vicki's name over and over. To the kid's credit, he seemed more worried about the fact that Vicki was dead rather than the fact that _he_ could've died. And he didn't seem too worried about the vampire thing, if he'd even figured it out. Which he probably had because it looked like Vicki had been vamping out when she'd died. She'd even died with her fangs in place.

"Looks like we missed all the fun," he said, putting Rebecca on her feet.

Rebecca didn't mention Damon's comment; she just grabbed his hand and squeezed a little. She was going to go to Jeremy now, he just knew it.

"I have to take care of him, Damon. He needs me right now."

Rebecca watched as Damon clenched his jaw, but was grateful when he nodded. He wasn't going to argue? That was a relief. Maybe he'd finally realized he could trust her, or maybe he'd realized he'd overreacted and wouldn't do it again.

"Thank you."

She went over to Jeremy, who was being restrained by Stefan. Jeremy's face was covered in tears and his lip had blood dripping from it. Elena was standing there in shock, so Rebecca didn't fault her for not being able to take care of Jeremy; Rebecca had _fainted_ the first time she'd seen a vampire die, so, the way she saw it, Elena was taking it better than she had.

Elena's side was bleeding badly, soaking through her white nurse's uniform. She had a few scrapes on her arms, and her neck was bleeding; Vicki had obviously bitten her. Rebecca picked Jeremy to comfort since he was the more traumatized of the two. She gently took him from Stefan's arms and Jeremy began holding onto her like his life depended on it. He was silent now, sobbing into her shoulder.

She wrapped her arms around him and glanced over at Damon to make sure she wasn't upsetting him. His expression was unreadable, but he was looking at her too.

Jeremy's legs gave out and Rebecca was the only thing holding him up. His whole body was shaking, and she let them both fall to the ground.

"Oh, Jer . . . I'm so sorry . . ." she said, not knowing if she could say anything else. It wouldn't matter because anything she said wouldn't get through anyway. But even if it did, it would sound lame or stupid.

Rebecca began to cry, herself, because someone she loved was in pain, and that was one thing she couldn't take. She didn't like the thought of people being hurt, whether it was physical or emotional. Vicki's death had been quick, probably over in a matter of seconds, but Jeremy's pain would live on.

"Becca, get him out of here," Elena said. "Please."

Rebecca's grief turned to rage at Elena's request. How dare Elena think she could ask Rebecca for _anything_?

"I told you," Rebecca said, contempt lacing her voice. "I _told_ you this would happen and you didn't listen."

Rebecca helped Jeremy to his feet, and, because he was shaky, Stefan grabbed onto Jeremy too.

"What are we gonna do with her?" she whispered loud enough for only Damon and Stefan to hear. Stefan looked a little lost, so Damon took over. Rebecca assumed he was going to bury Vicki somewhere.

"You," she heard Elena say, and she looked to see that Elena was talking to Damon. "You did this. This is your fault."

And that was the last straw. Damon may not have cared what Stefan or Elena thought about him, but she did. Rebecca didn't want to just let go of Jeremy, so she kept hold of him while speaking.

"Actually, Elena, it's yours. You're the one who kept this from him. And . . . By the way, Vicki fell down the stairs and broke her neck. Damon didn't kill her. He went out that night and Vicki was one of the people he attacked, but she didn't die, so he gave her some of his blood so she would heal. Vicki was messing around on the stairs and tripped over her own two feet. But nobody stopped to get the whole story, did they? You all just assumed because it's _him_. You just blamed him because it's convenient."

Rebecca shook her head in disgust and began tugging Jeremy along; he followed her willingly enough. She hoped he had been too busy grieving to have paid attention to anything she'd just said; he'd have questions and she really didn't feel like getting into it tonight.

"I have my dad's car, but someone has to drive."

Since Damon had to bury the body, Stefan was the only other choice. Rebecca didn't know why Elena couldn't take Jeremy home, but she didn't really care at that point because _Elena_ wasn't who Jeremy was clinging onto. Elena wasn't who Jeremy needed.

Once in the car, Jeremy and Rebecca in the backseat with Stefan driving, Rebecca began checking Jeremy over for injuries. Other than the blood on his lip he was physically fine.

"Jeremy, sweetie, look at me."

He lifted his head and she could tell it was hard; it was like he had no strength to.

"Did you drink from her? It's important." He shook his head absently. "Good, that's good."

"Wh - what happened? To her?" Jeremy bit her lip and more tears fell. "She . . . She bit me and . . . Elena. And . . ."

Rebecca shook her head. "Not right now, Jer. I will explain everything, but not tonight. Tonight you just need to . . ." She didn't know what he needed, but it wasn't to have everything thrown at him at once. "Tonight you just rest and then, in the morning, if you still want to know . . . I'll explain, okay?"

Jeremy nodded; it was almost a jerk, though, it was so fast. He laid his head back on her shoulder and she began playing with his hair. She had tears in her eyes again. That night had gone horribly wrong; she hadn't wanted it to end that way. She had hoped they could help Vicki. But now, thinking back, no one had been able to help her when she'd been human, so why would vampire-Vicki be any different.

By the time they got to Elena's house Jeremy had calmed down enough to function on his own and he went upstairs. Rebecca made to follow him, but Stefan stopped her.

"What you said about Damon . . . Were you telling the truth?"

"I had no reason to lie. He did . . . attack her because he was starving. And he did give her blood to heal her. We were dancing around and she fell. Now I've really gotta get to Jeremy, at least until Elena gets back."

"Okay. I'll wait outside."

In Jeremy's room she saw he was on the bed hugging his knees to his chest, stray tears still falling.

"Jer, did you want me to leave, or . . ."

"Why does everybody have to die on me?" Jeremy asked, voice broken.

Rebecca didn't know what to say to that. First his parents and now Vicki. Her first instinct had been to say _she_ wasn't going to die on him, but she couldn't promise that, not the way her life went.

"Please, just make it stop. It hurts."

Since Rebecca knew there was nothing she could possibly say to make him feel better she just sat with him until Elena got home, which was only about fifteen minutes later. Rebecca went out to give Elena and Jeremy a few minutes, and she sat with Stefan on the porch. That was when she realized she was shaking. She hadn't been able to let go and everything was bottled up inside. The two main things she was focused on were the regret she felt about Vicki dying and the pain she felt because of Jeremy's own pain; the last one was almost crippling.

She fought back the tears because she just _couldn't_ let it out yet. If she started she wouldn't be able to stop, and she needed to be able to function at least until she got home.

"I wanted to help her." Stefan said softly. "Instead . . ."

"Yeah." Rebecca was barely able to hear her own voice, but she knew Stefan had heard her perfectly.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"No," she answered honestly. "Everything that _could_ have gone wrong tonight did, and now everything is just so messed up."

"I'm sorry."

Rebecca looked at Stefan and saw that, yes, he really was sorry. He had pain and regret written all over his face, much like _she_ probably did.

"You did what you had to do, Stefan. She attacked Elena, probably would've killed her."

Stefan nodded but didn't look comforted. He stood up when Elena came back outside. She was still in her nurse's costume, but she had a blanket wrapped around her.

"How's he doing?" Stefan asked.

"He's a mess," Elena replied, tears in her eyes too. "I don't want him going through this again. He's just a kid."

"Elena, what can I do?" Stefan asked. "I - what can I do to help? I'll do anything."

"Can you make him forget?" Elena asked softly.

"Elena . . ." Stefan shook his head.

"Stefan, please. I don't know how he'll ever get past this. I want him to forget everything that happened."

Now Rebecca stood up. "What? You - after everything that . . . Tonight was a sparkling example of why he shouldn't be kept in the dark, Elena. He could've died, and you almost did!"

"He's in pain, Rebecca! He's . . . not gonna be okay unless . . ."

"Unless what? You get someone to tamper with his memories? No, we _all_ feel pain, Elena. And you know what? It hurts like hell sometimes and everything sucks for a while, but we get better, stronger because of it."

"It's not your call to make," Elena said firmly but softly.

"It's not yours either. It is _Jeremy's_ mind that will be messed with, Jeremy's memories that . . . If . . ." Rebecca's body deflated - everything just went away because she couldn't handle everything anymore. She didn't want to have to be on top of everything all the time.

"Elena, your memories are what make you. You tweak one little thing and you get a completely different person. I've seen it happen."

"If I did it, there's no guarantee that it would work," Stefan said, becoming referee guy. "Because of who I am, because of how I live. I don't have the ability to do it right."

"I can do it."

Of course, Rebecca felt Damon coming about five seconds before he appeared on the porch, but the usual relief she felt when he was around was bogged down by everything else. Not to mention, those words were not ones she wanted to hear.

"If this is what you want . . . I'll do it," Damon said.

As he said that, Rebecca's shoulders sagged in defeat because Damon was going to do what Damon wanted to do - she'd taught him that - and if this was it, then Jeremy's memories were history.

"It's what I want," Elena said, looking from Stefan to Damon.

"What do you want him to know?"

"I want you to tell him that Vicki left town," Elena began, and Rebecca shook her head again, not agreeing with the deceit, "and she's not coming back. That he shouldn't look for her or worry about her. He's gonna miss her but he knows it's for the best."

Damon nodded and went inside. Part of Rebecca wanted to follow him, but the other part just wanted to leave. She didn't even want to look at Elena right now. How could Elena be so stupid? Rebecca just wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her until she found some sense.

Making Jeremy oblivious to the things around him was not the way to make this better; it wasn't the best way to handle this situation.

"Part of me wishes that I could forget too," Elena said softly. "Forget meeting you . . . Finding out what you are, and everything that's happened since."

Rebecca realized Elena was talking to Stefan, so she tuned them out as best as she could. She didn't care about their drama right now.

"I don't want it to be like this. I don't wanna _feel_ like this."

Rebecca rolled her eyes at Elena's remarkable self-involvement. Tonight shouldn't have been about her and Stefan's _whatever_; it should have been about Vicki - who was _really_ dead now - and Jeremy. Elena should have been upstairs comforting him, not asking someone to take the pain away just so she wouldn't have to deal with it anymore.

"He's a vampire, Elena. That's what he is. Deal with it or don't, but make a damn choice," Rebecca said, real contempt behind her voice. "I'm going home."

"Becca . . ." Elena was hurt, Rebecca could tell, but she couldn't bring herself to care right now, not really.

"Don't! I'll see you later."

When Rebecca got to her dad's car she just stopped and closed her eyes for a second. She was so tired from the last few hours she'd spent on the emotional roller coaster that was her life. She slumped against the side of the car and then ran her hands through her hair, tugging a bit. She focused on breathing properly.

God, what was going to happen next? Vicki; Jeremy; Elena . . .

_Matt_. Vicki's brother! What was _he_ going to do? He didn't have anyone anymore. His mom was gone all the time, he didn't even know his dad, and Vicki was dead now. And he couldn't even know that, not since everyone was so hell-bent on being so damn secretive.

Rebecca's lower lip began to tremble and she clamped down on it with her teeth to keep it still. She bit harder than was necessary so she could focus on something other than her emotional turmoil.

"_Fuck_!" she shouted, and she didn't care who heard her. She wanted to curse, so she was going to curse. It was loud and drawn out, and when she stopped she was out of breath. She didn't feel any better, though, because cursing didn't solve anything; the problem was still there.

She opened the car door and plopped inside, but didn't start the car because Damon appeared, and within two seconds she was in the passenger seat and he was in the driver's.

"What're you doing?"

"Taking you home. You don't need to drive, you're upset."

"Hm." An almost hysterical laugh burst from her chest. "I don't know what it is I am, but it's more than upset."

"Because of Jeremy?"

Rebecca noticed there was no trace of jealousy at all, which was good because she couldn't deal with that right now, not on top of everything else.

"Because of everything. Vicki, Jeremy, Elena, Matt . . . He's gonna wonder what happened to her, and he'll never know."

She blinked away the tears and turned to look out the window. They were nearly at her house.

"Why'd you do it? Why'd you make Jeremy forget?"

"He was broken, Becca. Did the kid a favor."

"Of course he was broken. It only happened tonight! I mean, he would've gotten better as time went by. After he processed what happened."

"He would've told somebody."

"No. He wouldn't have. Because I would've asked him not to, and he would've listened because it was _me_."

Damon pulled into her driveway and she sighed. She didn't want to have to be here . . . alone.

"Can you stay? Please . . . Just don't leave me alone."

Damon took in her face, broken and in despair, and he knew he couldn't deny her anything, not right now. Because she needed him, and she was admitting it out loud to him.

"Yeah. Bedroom window?"

She smiled a little. "Yes. Thank you."

It still shocked him whenever she said that because he still wasn't used to being thanked. More than that, though, was that he wasn't used to having someone around _to_ thank him, to be grateful to him. Most people, they see a vampire and that's _all_ they see, so he had either killed them or compelled them to forget, depending on what they had done when they'd found out.

"You're welcome," he said.

He waited for her to get inside and distract her dad and aunt, who were in the kitchen, and then he went to her bedroom window, found it wasn't locked, and went inside to wait.

Her dad didn't try to keep her from going to bed, he just asked if she was hurt and when she said _no_ Damon heard her coming to the room. He heard Robert and Tina talking, in the living room now, but he didn't care enough to listen in. He got the gist, though. Tina didn't understand Robert's sudden leniency toward Rebecca. Damon didn't understand it much, either. If _he'd_ had a daughter, he'd have become _more_ strict if he'd found out she was supposed to kill vampires. He'd have had a big, fat _NO_ ready for her every time she wanted to go out at night.

Rebecca stepped in the room and glanced at Damon, who was looking at her too. He had unexpressed concern in his eyes and all she could do was stand there and shrug. His little Rebecca was lost and didn't know what to do.

"I'm, uh . . . I'm gonna change, but I'll be right back," she said softly. She grabbed a few things from a drawer and went to the bathroom. Damon began thinking about the night's events.

Finding Vicki dead - he wasn't sorry for it, but it _was_ a shame she'd had to die so soon. Though she'd have had a bad ending even if she'd stayed human, if she hadn't broken her neck to begin with. Out all night, partying with losers, sleeping around. She would've disappeared eventually. Somebody would've killed her or she'd have overdosed on drugs or something.

Then there was Jeremy. He'd seen how Rebecca was with the kid and it was like she'd told him . . . Jeremy was like a kid brother to her. Maybe even more, like she had a maternal love for him. Damon had nothing to worry about when it came to Jeremy.

Then there was Elena. Rebecca had defended him when Elena had blamed him about the Vicki situation. Until that night, Damon had never seen a royally pissed off Rebecca - she had looked at Elena like she'd wanted to pop her one or _something_. She'd been contemplating violence, that was for sure.

When Rebecca got back he took in her usual PJs. Shirt and shorts, even though it was nearing November. His gaze was drawn to her arms - her gypsy shirt had been covering them, but she had bruises on her upper arms. Finger marks, as if someone had been rough with her.

"What happened there?"

She looked confused for a second before she looked down herself. "It doesn't matter."

She rubbed her hands over her arms, though. She looked around her room like she'd never seen it before, and then she locked her door.

"Becca . . . What happened?"

She'd never kept anything from him before and he didn't like that she was now.

"You," she said, looking down at the floor, refusing to meet his eyes. "Today at the car because of Stefan. Yesterday at the front door because of Jeremy. You squeezed too hard."

_He_ had done it? Granted, a few bruises were the least of their problems right now, but the fact that _he'd_ been the one to leave them was frustrating. Compared to the fact that he'd nearly drained her dry the other day, _this_ was a very small thing, but he hated the thought of himself causing her pain. Next to losing her completely, it was the most excruciating thought that ever floated around his head. It was excruciating because it was so easy to do, him being a vampire and her being human. The Slayer, yes, but still human.

His mind flashed back to the two times he'd gotten jealous, and he hadn't thought he'd been gripping hard enough to leave bruises. But her little speech about him mistreating her made sense now because he _had_ left bruises.

He felt her hand touch his face and he looked at her. She was smiling softly and he saw she didn't seem lost anymore because she was focusing on him. She didn't look mad, either, which was a relief. He thought he was going to have to apologize, which he didn't want to do.

"Why didn't you say anything?" he asked.

"Because I didn't want you to know. It wasn't _that_ important."

"Hm. Regardless -" he kissed the inside of her wrist and resisted the urge to bite "- next time just say _ow_, okay?"

Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Oh, but that would've made sense. And _you_ are never sensible if you can help it."

"True," he admitted. "Still, you can't just _let_ me hurt you. And I won't know I'm doing it if you don't tell me."

Rebecca nodded and sat beside him on the bed. He had her hand in his, which she didn't mind. She found it ironic, though, that Damon Salvatore, badass vampire, was a hand holder.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked softly.

Damon nodded, and she turned on the TV in her room hoping to cover their voices. Her dad was used to her going to sleep with the TV on, so he probably wouldn't suspect anything.

"Tonight when you helped Bonnie . . . You had nothing to gain from it . . . So why?"

Damon shrugged. "I promised I would protect Emily's family if she saved Katherine. Emily held up her end of the deal, and just because I made that pact while I was being compelled, I still made it; a deal's a deal."

Rebecca didn't know how to express how happy it made her that he still had some sense of honor left in him. So she kissed him softly to show her appreciation. It was like the kiss she'd given him the night he'd opened up to her a little. That had . . . only been the night before, but it felt like months had gone by. Courtesy of the too eventful, too stressful day.

Damon responded quickly enough but didn't try to deepen the kiss at all. He happened to like these kisses - the sweet, tender ones that showed him how much she cared for him.

She accepted him the way he was; she didn't care that he was a _vampire_ with urges that didn't fit the human scale - hell, she didn't care that he wasn't human. Damon knew that he could sometimes act like a monster when he wanted to, and at best he acted like a cold-hearted bastard - and that was about 90% of the time - but she loved him like he was just a man, vampire not included.

No, she didn't pretend like his vampire side didn't exist because, really, how could she? But she didn't treat him any differently than she did anyone else because of it, either.

She helped him feel . . . less like a monster, because if he could have someone like Rebecca - someone good like her - without having to compel her, then he couldn't be that bad, right? Because villains don't get the girls, not the good ones. If he were really a monster, then the world wouldn't let him have her, not willingly.

And all this self-reflecting was bringing him down to a very dark place. Dark places were not good for him. Negative emotions led to . . . very bad things when it came to him. People usually got hurt.

And it was making him thirsty, so he pulled away from Rebecca just a little. For the first time in a very long time, he hid his face from someone. He still thought Rebecca shouldn't have to see him like that.

Rebecca didn't have to ask questions, she knew that emotions - especially the intense ones - brought the vampire to the surface; she didn't know _why_, she just knew they did. She also knew that human blood, _fresh_ human blood would take the edge off.

"Damon," she whispered, lifting his face up so she could see just how much whatever he was feeling was affecting him. "Please don't hide from me."

His eyes were blood red and the veins were still protruding underneath, but his teeth were still blunt. She caressed his cheeks, because usually that helped, but it didn't this time. It made it worse and he pulled away even more.

"What's wrong? I can't . . . I won't know what to do if you don't tell me what's wrong."

Was he hungry? Well, thirsty? Or angry? Really, he had no reason to be. They'd been touching and kissing and then . . .

"Was it me? Did I . . . do something wrong?"

Damon breathed deeply. Hearing the uncertainty in her voice, hearing that she was blaming herself pissed him off because clearly it wasn't her fault at all. He needed to get control of himself _now_. He'd had control for so long, but feeling emotions anew was hard and stressful, even the ones that didn't feel bad.

Like being genuinely cared for; it was hard for him to grasp and get used to. It had been so long between times that he'd been with Rebecca, and so much had happened in the in-between, and the Damon she'd known was buried so far down he was barely the same person he'd been. But . . . His humanity was trying to claw its way out - and that was dangerous for everybody.

Dangerous because his human self had felt everything deeply. He had felt, when he was human, that if his heart wasn't in it then it wasn't worth it, and so, yes, the things and people he cared about got everything he was. He didn't do things halfway - if he didn't feel with his whole heart, he didn't give up his time with it.

He finally was able to flip the switch and his face went back to normal. Why had it been so hard? It had never been that hard before, damn it!

"What just happened?" Rebecca asked softly. She didn't reach for him, though, because _he_ had pulled away from her and he would come back when he was ready.

"Feeling's resurfacing. No big."

"Is it . . . really that difficult?" she asked curiously. "And was it me?"

Damon's blue eyes found her green ones and her heart skipped a beat. His eyes were open - no walls to be seen. Just Damon, not who he was pretending to be.

"Yes, it's that difficult. Imagine not feeling anything for 145 years, and then imagine opening yourself up and everything hitting you at once."

Rebecca couldn't imagine that; it was impossible for her. No, she wasn't the most emotive person in the world, but she felt. She knew what it was like to hurt, but she knew what it was like when everything felt good, too. She'd felt everything in-between and couldn't imagine how it felt to _not_ feel, to just be numb to everything. And then to have it all thrown back at you . . . Practically forced upon you . . .

"I'm sorry if . . . if it's bad."

Damon shook his head and moved back to her. He was in complete control now. "Tonight . . . What just happed wasn't bad. Or it didn't _feel_ bad." He tried to swallow back the words that he wanted to say because he didn't like being this open, this vulnerable, but he also thought he owed it to her to be completely honest since she was with him. "I'm just not used to that yet."

"That?" she asked. "That what?"

"When you kiss me like that," he admitted, uncomfortable now.

Rebecca's eyes widened when she understood. "So it is me."

"You _are_ the reason it's happening," he said. "It's not your fault, it's just who you are. How you are with me. You let so many things slide, some things that you probably shouldn't, but you do it anyway, for me."

Damon realized he'd never really acknowledged it out loud, the things she did for him, and he wanted her to know he appreciated it even if he usually didn't say anything.

Rebecca smiled softly for a second, but then she frowned. "You . . . I make you lose control because I care?"

"It doesn't matter," he repeated her earlier words. "It'll get easier once I get used to being with you again, being around you again." This time he was the one caressing her face. "Don't stop caring. The emotions I think I can learn to deal with. You deciding you can't be with me for my own good, that I can't handle."

"Always care about you?" She smiled again. "Check.

* * *

Okay, so I think the last part is a little OOC for Damon, he's not usually that open, but I'm going by my opinion that he could be that way if he wanted to be. And if he felt secure in whatever relationship he's in, he might let someone in like that.

Let me know what you think.


	26. Chapter 22

I know I haven't updated in a while even though I have a few chapters written already, but I've had drama in my life. My aunt lost her house, moved in with a psycho, then moved in with us after she found out about him being a psycho, and she has an 11 year old girl who follows me around like a puppy dog, so I haven't been able to get much done in the way of updating.

So . . . Previously on Vampire Diaries: Vicki died, Rebecca got upset with the entire situation, and Damon tried to comfort her.

Chapter Twenty-Two

The next morning found Rebecca waking up beside a still sleeping Damon - or maybe still sleeping; she remembered the last time that he'd been faking. She didn't freak out this time because she remembered everything from the night before; he hadn't had to compel any pain away.

She stretched out and then got up, got her clothes, and went to the bathroom. Chelsea had a good thirty minutes of sleep left, so Rebecca took a quick shower and noticed the bruises from the day before were gone. Slayers healed fast, which was why she hadn't mentioned it to Damon until he'd noticed them.

Back in her room she found Damon going through her closet. She rolled her eyes good naturedly and plopped back on her bed.

"Since you're still here I take it my dad isn't?"

"Your dad went to work and your aunt went out to breakfast with a friend."

"Oh."

Chelsea started making noises and it sounded like she was getting ready to pitch a fit, so Rebecca got up and took her sister out of the crib. Chelsea didn't like being in it unless she was sleeping.

"What're you looking for?" she asked Damon as she began the morning ritual of changing Chelsea.

"Just lookin'." Damon shrugged and turned to her with a smirk planted firmly on his lips. "You feel better?"

"Yup. Well, I'm not _okay_ with it, but stressing about it won't help, so . . . I'll just make sure Jeremy doesn't get hurt."

Rebecca watched as Damon pulled out a few shoeboxes from a shelf and she smiled as he opened each one. They were full of pictures, so he plopped beside her and began going through them. When he'd sat on the bed it had jostled Chelsea a bit and the baby giggled.

Rebecca noticed that Damon pointedly tried to ignore that, so she didn't mention it.

Instead . . . "You are so nosy," she said fondly.

"I am not nosy. I'm curious. There is a difference."

"Which is?"

"I'm _curious_ because I'm interested. But I'm not being annoying about it, so therefore I'm not being nosy about it."

Damon began putting the pictures back in the first box after looking at each one. He stopped on a few of them and asked questions.

The first box was of her younger years, baby stage up to age five. There were a lot of Rebecca, Elena, and Bonnie together. A lot of them had been taking at Elena's house. Elena's parents had treated Rebecca like a second daughter; it was why she, Elena, and Jeremy had the relationship they had. Before Elena's parents had died, they'd been the Three Musketeers. Jeremy and Elena hadn't always had a tense relationship; that was recent.

"You know . . . Miranda, Elena's mom, used to tell me how good and beautiful I was. She would always tell me how proud of me she was even when my own parents didn't."

Damon paused and looked at her for a second before going back to looking at the pictures. Then he smiled - genuinely - when he came across one of her playing in the rain. It was her and a three-year-old Jeremy; they had mud on their clothes and big smiles on their faces.

"I never took you for the playing in the rain type person."

"Mm. I love the rain. Especially in the summer. Even now I like to splash in the puddles every now and then."

"How undignified," Damon teased.

When Damon got to her older pictures he came across a particular picture that made Rebecca blush. It wasn't anything bad; it was just it had been taken when she'd been sixteen and she was on the beach standing next to a sand castle and she was in nothing but a black bikini - the string kind. She hadn't changed _that_ much in the year since it had been taken; except for the grace of physical training, she looked pretty much the same.

"I think I'm keeping this one," Damon said, placing it aside.

"No way, I'm half naked there."

"Everything is covered that should've been. What's the big deal?"

"Well . . ." Rebecca couldn't really come up with a good answer, and Damon smirked when she relented. "Fine. Have it if you want it." Giving in was easier than arguing, and it was just a picture. Not anything life-altering, so . . . He could have it.

"So, what are you doing today?" he asked.

"I have to go to the library," she answered. "I have to get that book so I can study for that test. Not having to pretend to worry about school will be a relief once this is over with."

She reached over and brushed his hair out of his eyes with her fingertips. She smiled a little because he was being _this_ Damon right now.

"What're _you_ doing?"

"Well," he smirked, "first I need to find someone to eat. I haven't fed since . . . Vicki."

"Right."

Damon watched, fascinated, because Rebecca didn't even bat an eyelash. Most people were a little grossed out by blood-drinking - or at the very least felt awkward talking about it - but she just took it in stride.

"You're a weird little human, Miss Rebecca."

Her face lit up when he used his old name for her; how interesting.

"One has to be a little weird or else they would go crazy. But I prefer the term quirky."

"And I still say weird; it means the same thing."

"Right. Well, _I_ have to go find something to eat, too, so . . . Feel free to look around to your heart's content. You're gonna do it anyway."

"Damn straight."

Then he did that eye thing he knew she loved and she shook her head before she leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.

"Come say bye before you leave."

Rebecca fixed a place in the living room for Chelsea to play on; Chelsea was learning to crawl and didn't like being in her highchair in the kitchen - Rebecca compromised.

Rebecca called Bonnie since Bonnie hadn't called the night before like she'd said she would. She called Bonnie's cell, then her dad's house, and then finally, after getting voicemail at both of those, she reached Bonnie at her Gram's place.

She was sorry she hadn't called; she'd just been freaked out after everything. Her going all trance-y had been a bit much for her.

"That's okay. It was a bit . . . out there. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Yeah. I'm . . . fine, but I kind of need to see you. To talk. Um . . . Since I can't talk to Elena or Caroline."

"Sure, when? I need to go to the library first, so -"

"I can pick you up. We can talk on the way."

"Yeah, okay. Give me an hour."

She fixed herself a bowl of cereal since she didn't have time to cook, and fixed Chelsea her bottle. She wondered how long it would take for Chelsea to not want the bottle anymore. She was almost ten months old now, so Rebecca would have to start weaning her off of it soon.

She sat in the living room with Chelsea. She looked up when Damon came in and sat down beside her, looking as perfect as ever. No one should be able to look that good when they first wake up, but he did. Sure, his hair was messier but she didn't care. Though on him if wasn't bed hair; it was sex hair. That's what it looked like; like he'd been thoroughly sexed out.

She looked back down at her cereal as the thought passed through her mind. She didn't want him to see what she was thinking about. Damon was observant like that.

"What did the little witch want?"

"Uh, she's picking me up in an hour. She wants to talk since I'm the only one she _can_ talk to."

"So you're the listener in the group, huh?"

Rebecca shrugged. "I'm a good listener, and hardly ever do I judge. And if I do I get over it fairly quickly. I don't let simple disagreements or differences of opinion get in the way of a friendship. I accepted that everyone's different a long time ago."

"Like Elena?" Damon smirked. "You're going to _just_ get over her difference of opinion?"

Rebecca shrugged again, only this time she wasn't as carefree. "I still think she made a mistake and I intend to give her a big, fat 'I told you so' if it crashes down around her, but she made it very clear that it was none of my business."

It still stung when she thought about how Elena had told her that it wasn't her decision because Jeremy wasn't her brother; it had been like their whole life of friendship hadn't meant anything in that moment.

Rebecca stirred her cereal around, because she'd suddenly lost her appetite. She hated fighting with her friends. It used to not happen at all, but now it seemed like it was happening more and more.

"Ever since I told her about the Slayer thing, things have been different. It's like she doesn't trust me anymore because of it."

That was the first time she'd admitted that out loud. Elena had treated her differently because _she_ was different, she guessed. It wasn't fair.

"Should I offer to get inappropriately violent? You say the word and she's a footnote in history. I can make it look like a terrible accident," Damon said.

Rebecca smiled a little and Damon felt a little better. He only vaguely remembered how it felt to hurt because someone else was hurting, but he didn't like seeing her unhappy. He hadn't liked it when he'd been human either.

"Hey, do you want to go out tonight? Forget about everything for a bit?" he asked.

"Go where?" she asked, fully smiling now.

"Do you like clubs?"

"Not the ones that the cops raid everyday, but sure."

"Okay, we'll leave around seven and go to one in Richmond. I know a guy, he'll let you in."

"Okay, but, uh, you're gonna have to convince my dad to let me stay out late."

"I don't think that will be a problem. He'll probably let it slide because he knew Zach."

"Right." Rebecca's face fell again. "What do I tell him about that? I mean, you know, no one's gonna see him again."

Damon could tell that for all the things she was okay to talk about, this was not one of them. He knew she knew why he'd killed Zach and she even understood it to an extent, but talking about it made her uncomfortable - or guilty, maybe.

_Of course she feels guilty because she _let_ you do it and get away with it_, the now familiar and still annoying voice of his conscience said. _She's got the Slayer part of her telling her what's _right_ and that what she let you do was wrong. Then she's fighting against that for you_.

Funny, he had to fight against doing things wrong, and she had to fight against doing the _right_ thing. It didn't seem fair.

"I told Mrs. Lockwood that he went out of town; you should go with that."

"Okay. Um . . . Can I ask you a favor?"

"Mm, a _sexual_ favor?" He grinned and did his eye thing and she flushed lightly.

"No!" she exclaimed. "Now, be serious. Please? I need for you not to feed on Caroline unless it's absolutely necessary. She remembered last time because you didn't have time to make her forget, and it really freaked her out. Besides, she's already ditzy enough without you messing with her head. It might damage her permanently."

Don't feed from Caroline? What other use did she have? She was shallow and stupid and obnoxious. But there were many girls in Mystic Falls, and he could charm any one of them.

"Fine, won't go after Caroline."

"Thank you."

He vaguely wondered if her being all nice and saying 'thank you' and treating him . . . lovingly - no other word for it - was a sweet form of manipulation. He also wondered if she _knew_ about the power she had over him and, if she did, was she using it against him willingly?

_No_, he decided. _She probably doesn't even know_.

Rebecca didn't hate like that. Not him or anyone else. He knew she wasn't perfect; everyone had flaws no matter how deep they were hidden or buried. But she wasn't a manipulative, deceitful little bitch either. She was an honest-to-God good person, who genuinely wanted to do the right thing; she just had a little problem reconciling that with the fact that her boyfriend was a sometimes homicidal vampire.

* * *

Damon left before Bonnie had picked Rebecca up, so when Rebecca left with Bonnie, Chelsea in tow, she didn't have to have an awkward conversation with the only friend that wasn't treating her like she'd suddenly become a social leper. Well, Caroline wasn't either, but she was completely oblivious.

They were heading to the library. Bonnie looked slightly uncomfortable and was tight-lipped. Rebecca knew that meant Bonnie had something really important but probably bad to say; it was kind of like that time she hadn't wanted to tell Elena about Stefan.

"What did you want to talk about? Did something happen? Well, other than the obvious?"

"Uh . . . Can we wait? Until we get to the parking lot? I don't want to risk having an accident."

"It's that bad?"

"Well, I don't know. Part of it is bad, the other part is . . . Um . . . It can go either way, I guess."

_Okay. Vague_, Rebecca thought. _And cryptic_.

"Is this about what happened last night? What you felt or saw?"

"Sort of. I told Grams, I hope that's okay. I just didn't know what else to do."

"That's fine. If she can help, then by all means. I trust her. So . . . Speaking of asking someone for help . . . I know someone very into the supernatural, and I think if I asked her she could help me help you. I won't mention your name, I wouldn't do that, but . . . It's up to you."

"As long as you don't mention my name."

Once Bonnie was parked in the library parking lot Bonnie looked at Rebecca with a worried expression.

"Don't get mad, okay?"

"Okay."

"You've been spending a lot of time with Damon. Um . . . I thought that after Caroline, that . . . you wouldn't."

"Uh . . . Right."

_Damn it, here we go again!_

"How much do you really know about him?" Bonnie asked. "Because I got a _weird_ feeling from him. Like I got from Stefan."

"The cold death-like one?" Rebecca asked, and Bonnie nodded.

Before Rebecca could continue, Chelsea started crying. She was trapped in a car seat, and Rebecca knew she hated it so she reached over the front seat to get her sister out and bring her to the front. Chelsea stopped crying almost instantly - she was maybe a little spoiled.

"Right, now . . . Uh . . . This is something I can't talk about right now. But if you knew, then the Caroline thing would almost make sense."

Rebecca looked away and out the window because she knew that, in all reality, the Caroline situation probably _wouldn't_ make sense, actually. Nobody else but her seemed to understand that vampires needed blood to survive, and, yes, there were other ways - better ways - of getting it, but she couldn't ask Damon to stop drinking human blood.

In the back of her mind she knew that had a lot to do with the fact that she didn't _want_ him to stop drinking human blood. She wanted him to be at his strongest so he could take care of himself. So he would heal the way he was supposed to.

"I think he's bad news, Rebecca," Bonnie said softly. "He could hurt you."

Bonnie knew about her bad boyfriend past and Rebecca knew she was just looking out for her, but she didn't know how to explain to Bonnie that Damon wasn't there to hurt her. Rebecca knew he could, of course she _knew_. He was a vampire, so of course he could hurt her - or worse. But even after everything, she trusted him not to hurt her on purpose.

"Okay, Bonnie, you know how you can see things sometimes? Well, have you ever tried to do it on purpose? I can show you better than I can tell you. But I can't do it right now. I can come to your Grams' house tomorrow and we can try if you want."

"I don't know," Bonnie hesitated. "This is all still new to me. What if I do something wrong and then _I_ could hurt you."

"You won't. I've become very durable, Bonnie. Besides, your Grams' can help you."

"Right." Bonnie looked at Rebecca now, and Rebecca saw that Bonnie's eyes had softened a little and she didn't seem as uncertain. "You guys are . . . You and Damon are . . ."

Bonnie bit her lip and she shook her head. Apparently she didn't know if she should go on.

"Bonnie, spill."

"You're together. And I don't just mean now. When I got a glimpse of whatever it was last night . . . It was almost like . . . Almost like you'd been together before. Like in a different lifetime, and now you've found each other again. It was . . . powerful. Whatever it was. It felt . . . It was like you have this bond that no one can get between."

Rebecca didn't know what to say. Technically, she and Damon had been together in another life - _his_ life. And no one could get between them, not anymore. And she _hoped_ whatever they had, whatever they were fast becoming, that it was unbreakable; she didn't want him to ever go away, because God help her, even when he was at his worst she was still all about him. As daft a notion as it was, she didn't think another guy could ever mean as much to her.

That was when it hit her. She was still in love with Damon Salvatore. She had unwittingly lied to Elena when she'd told her that she didn't love-love Damon, because she _did_. Human or vampire, it didn't matter; Damon Salvatore had every little piece of her heart in the palm of his hand, and she knew now that could get her into trouble if she let it.

* * *

Once inside the library Rebecca and Bonnie went straight to the test books, and that was when Bonnie asked why Rebecca needed those particular books. And so Rebecca told Bonnie the truth, more or less; she edited the vampire parts, of course.

"But we always hung out during and after," Bonnie complained.

"We can still hang out, Bonnie. We just can't during."

"Can we? You always seem to be busy now."

Rebecca felt a jolt of guilt because she knew that was true. She was busy all the time, but it wasn't like she did it on purpose. She had to train and stuff; she couldn't just not. Considering where she lived, she needed to be able to defend herself and take care of the people she loved.

"You know what? I know it's not fair that we have to have appointments to spend time with each other, but you're one of my best friends. If you need me or want to see me, I'll make time."

Bonnie smiled a little and nodded.

Within the next hour she got a call from Jeremy, who wondered if she'd be willing to help him with his homework that weekend. Of course she told him yes, all the while wondering why he was worried about homework all of a sudden. Granted, Jeremy had been a smart and talented kid before his parents had died in the car accident, but ever since he'd just lost interest in pretty much everything. Until Vicki, and now . . . Vicki was dead and she wasn't coming back.

"So I'll see you at your Grams' tomorrow?" Rebecca asked as she and Bonnie walked out of the library, both with a few books in tow. Rebecca was thankful for her Slayer strength, because she had Chelsea in her arms too, and the girl was trying desperately to make Rebecca drop her books.

"Yes," Bonnie answered her.

"Good, now hold on one second."

Rebecca smiled when they reached Bonnie's car and she put Chelsea in her seat. She took out her phone and dialed Caroline's number; she got a more or less happy 'hello?'

"Hey, I need your help. Are you busy?"

"No."

"Meet me at my house in thirty minutes?"

"Will do."

"Thanks, Care."

"What's up?" Bonnie asked her after she hung up.

"Uh . . . I have a date tonight with Damon. We're going to a club and I need to know what to wear."

"And you're asking Caroline? About Damon?"

"Well, she doesn't have to know it's Damon I'm going with."

"Are you sure he'll . . . Um . . . What I mean is that . . . Are you going to be safe with him?"

"Yes." Rebecca smiled a little. "Perfectly safe."

She knew Bonnie was only worried so Rebecca didn't mind having to defend Damon to her. From the outside looking in, it did just seem like Damon was an abusive bastard, but from Rebecca's point of view he was a vampire who needed blood to survive.

* * *

Once at Rebecca's house Bonnie said her good-bye and Rebecca went in to wait for Caroline. She suddenly wondered if asking Caroline was a good idea, not because of the Damon thing, but because Caroline might try to dress her up as a sex kitten, which she wasn't and didn't want to look like.

When Rebecca stepped inside she instantly smelled food cooking, so she went to the kitchen. Her aunt was frying what smelled like a steak. Her shoulders were shaking and she was sniffling.

"Tina?"

Her aunt jumped like she hadn't heard Rebecca come in and close the front door. Her aunt was in tears, red faced.

"Tina . . . What's wrong?"

Tina didn't cry a lot; she wasn't the type to let _every_ little thing get to her, so Rebecca was worried. Rebecca's first thought was _Oh God, who died_?

"Nothin, baby, I just . . . I went to the doctor this morning because I've been feeling a little under the weather."

"Uh-huh . . ."

Rebecca's heart began racing and she felt her throat tighten in anticipation. Oh God, something was going to happen to her aunt. Something was wrong and Rebecca hadn't even noticed.

"And? What's wrong with you?"

"I'm just a little pregnant."

Rebecca forgot to breathe for a minute until her body reminded her she needed oxygen to live. Everything began to fade and she gasped for air.

"Um . . . What?" Maybe she'd heard wrong. Hopefully she just had ear wax built up and she'd misheard the word 'pregnant'. Or maybe she was just imagining this whole conversation.

"I'm pregnant."

Ironically enough, Chelsea was still in Rebecca's arms when her aunt repeated herself. Rebecca had to force herself not to squeeze the life out of her sister.

"How? Why?" Rebecca grimaced. "Don't answer that, I don't need a diagram. I know how babies are made. What I mean is, how long . . . Um, how far along are you?"

"About a month and a half. It will be due around May or June."

Hm . . . Tina had been here for almost two months. Rebecca's mind automatically jumped to the logical conclusion.

"Are you . . . Are you boinking my dad?"

Tina looked shocked. "No! I do have a life that doesn't include you two, you know?"

"Oh . . . Well . . . Good. Why are you crying? Do you not want the baby?"

"I'm fine with the baby. I'm not sure what your father will think. I don't know if he'll let me stay here while . . ."

Rebecca sat gingerly down at the kitchen table and sat Chelsea down on her knee. Rebecca bit her lip hard enough to draw blood; this reminded her of a similar conversation she'd had with her mother when she'd found out she was pregnant.

Her mother's voice filled her head. _After we had you . . . I got pregnant twice. Once when you were five and again when you were thirteen; neither pregnancy lasted more than three months_.

Her response had been less than kind. _Mom . . . Don't take this the wrong way, but what are you going to do with a baby? I mean, I practically had to raise myself. I already know how it's gonna end with this. You having the baby and me having to take care of it_.

Her prediction had been true. Chelsea didn't have a real mother - or a real father. All she had was a sister named Rebecca.

"I was, um, supposed to go with Damon to a dance club tonight, but if you need me to stay here . . . I can - I can call and tell him."

"No," her aunt said, turning back to the steak she was fixing. "Just don't mention this to your dad, okay? I'll tell him my own way."

"Yeah, sure. That's . . . uh . . . Not a problem. Do you want me to finish the meal? Caroline's coming over to help me choose an outfit."

"No, you girls go ahead. I can do this on my own."

"Okay," she said softly. "And for what it's worth, I don't think Dad will mind."

* * *

Once Caroline arrived Rebecca did explain about Damon because she couldn't bring herself to lie to the girl. Rebecca figured she was doing enough lying as it was. Surprisingly enough, all Rebecca got from Caroline was a concerned look and a heartfelt 'be careful'.

Then Caroline bossily told her to go wash her hair, and she said she'd washed her hair that morning.

"Do it anyway. I need to blow dry your hair, make it less wavy and more volume-y."

"Fine, but I need to make a call first."

"Make it snappy."

"Yes, ma'am." Rebecca mock saluted her blond friend.

Rebecca took her phone with her to the bathroom and dialed Diana's number; she felt a little guilty about not having kept in touch with Diana, but then she reminded herself about the near death experience Diana had put her through. Rebecca shouldn't feel guilty because she hadn't done anything wrong.

"Rebecca," Diana's voice was soft and hesitant. "I haven't heard from you in a while."

"Yeah. I, uh . . . I honestly wouldn't have known what to say until now. And that's that I need your help with something weird."

"Name it," was Diana's immediate response.

"Okay. A friend of mine is having some problems - definitely supernatural. I can't give you a name because I promised I wouldn't, but I said I'd call you and ask. Can I come over Sunday and we can talk?"

"Sure, and I think we should try and fix whatever trust I broke when I took you to the warehouse with me."

"Right, we'll work on that."

Rebecca didn't really know if she'd be able to just move past whatever it was that she and Diana had problems with. It wasn't the fact that Diana had almost gotten her killed; Rebecca could almost get killed everyday; it was the fact that she had lied to get Rebecca to help her. _That_ Rebecca didn't like.

After Rebecca had finished showering and washing her hair she went back into her room, a towel wrapped around her body and another twisted around her long hair.

"Okay, ready," Rebecca said, determined to think of nothing but the fact that she had a date with Damon. She knew he liked dancing, so the fact that that was what they were going to do didn't surprise her. She just wondered what type of club it would be. Fancy and formal was too stuffy, so it would probably be casual, which was a comfort.

Caroline had gone through Rebecca's clothes and had laid out some dark green form-fitting jeans, a thin white, almost see through, shirt, and a silver half-jacket that had lighter silver sequins on it.

To say the least, Rebecca was surprised. She had thought she'd have to _beg_ for Caroline to choose something like this over something more reveal-y.

"What? Don't look so shocked. _I_ would never wear this, but you aren't comfortable with sexy yet. Give it time, you'll get there."

Rebecca smiled and began getting dressed. The white T-shirt automatically led to a white underwear set. She saw in the mirror that her bra was very noticeable through the material of the shirt since it was so thin, but she could grin and bear it. Besides . . . She kind of wanted to see Damon's response to it.

The two girls made idle small talk with each other. Caroline proved to be better company than Rebecca remembered her ever being. Rebecca wondered if that was because Caroline was more or less normal - boys and school and clothes; no vampires in sight.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the boardinghouse, Damon was busy getting ready himself. His usual black on black attire - why fix what isn't broken? Damon had gone through Rebecca's music collection and had been surprised at the music she liked. Some of it was modern, of course, since she was only seventeen, but she had older music, too, from the 60s and 70s - some classic rock; Foreigner and Journey, bands like that. Back when music was great instead of just okay.

Damon figured she'd appreciate the retro-type club he wanted to take her too. She'd had way too much drama to deal with lately and he wanted to help take her mind off of it.

He'd already taken care of Robert Stone; Damon had played the perfect gentleman and had gotten what he wanted.

"Where're you goin'?" his brother's voice came from the doorway of his bedroom.

"Out," Damon said. "See, because I actually have a life, so to speak."

"You're going with Rebecca?"

"Not your concern."

"Yes, it is. Because I need to know who to blame if she somehow disappears."

The only sign that Damon showed of listening was that he paused for a split second before continuing going about his business without answering.

"I'm serious, Damon. What're you up to? You can't honestly say you still love her after 145 years. You just want her with you because you've spent so long without her."

"Stefan, please, save yourself the embarrassment and stop talking." Within seconds Damon had Stefan pinned against the wall with a hand at his throat. "More importantly, stop mouthing off about things you don't understand." Damon's hand tightened against Stefan's windpipe and he glared. "And whatever this thing is between Rebecca and me is none of your business, so stay out of it. She was there, Stefan. She knows what you did, what you are under your nice guy image. You can't pollute her mind against me. See, she knows the truth . . . That _you_ have a need to make me look bad because you can't live with yourself."

Damon let Stefan go and backed away like nothing had happened.

"Now, I'm taking Rebecca out tonight because she's stressing over everything that's happened since you decided you wanted to starve me. Ergo . . . Partying." Damon grimaced sarcastically. "Oh, wait, I forgot, you've never heard that word before. Well, it's the opposite of everything you do, just think of it that way."

Damon walked by Stefan, who was catching his breath, and grabbed his leather jacket from a chair. It was time to go pick up Rebecca. His mood lifted at that thought.

* * *

Rebecca was on the front porch when Damon arrived and she hurriedly got in the passenger seat of his Camaro. He noticed the outfit she had on was fitting for where they were going. He also noticed, but didn't comment on, the fact that her shirt was practically see through. But, not for the first time, he thought she was a tease.

She had a black leather bag with her that she tossed into the backseat.

"Weapons," she said. "Just in case. Can't be too careful."

"Says the girl going on a date with a vampire," Damon teased.

He noticed the fact that she was wearing murky brown eye-shadow - the only reason he noticed was because he liked her eyes and the brown makeup brought out the green more. Her orbs didn't have their usual spark in them and he realized something else must've happened after he'd left that morning. Maybe she and Bonnie had had a fight or something. It seemed like all of her friends were turning against her and it wasn't even anything she'd done. It was just because she wasn't acting the way they wanted her to, all prim and proper like.

"What happened?" he asked, prompting her to speak so she'd know he was in a listening mood. They did have at least thirty minutes to spare. "Is Bonnie mad at you, too?"

Rebecca shook her head a little. "No, she's, uh . . . She's good. A little suspicious of you, but other than that she's fine. But she said that we have a bond that no one can get between. It's like we were together in another life - me and you, not me and her."

Her lips quirked up and she moved to the middle of the front seat to get closer to him.

"Um . . . She's, uh . . . I plan on telling her about vampires and me. I won't mention you or Stefan by name, but I think she kind of suspects already. She said she got a cold death-like feeling from both of you guys."

Rebecca watched for any sign of outward aggression; she hoped she wasn't putting Bonnie in danger by telling Damon what her plan was.

"She won't tell anybody because if she did, she'd have to tell about me and herself, so . . ."

"Hm."

"And as for what happened . . ." She bit her lip and smirked, knowing she was going to get a reaction from him now. "I'm gonna have a baby."

She held onto the seat as Damon slammed on the brakes - good thing there was no traffic. She burst out laughing at the reaction and he glared at her, not murderously - thank God.

"Run that one by me again," Damon said, or more like demanded.

"Relax, I was joking. But I am having a baby - or I'm going to have another baby in my house." Rebecca sighed. "Tina's having the baby, but I think she's going to be living with us."

"You don't want her to have the baby?"

Damon had to ask because sometimes he didn't understand why she reacted a certain way and he wanted to know her, get her, without having to ask.

"No, the baby's fine . . . I don't have anything to do with that decision."

Rebecca put her head against his arm and closed her eyes. Damon watched as she gradually grew more relaxed and he started driving again.

"Sometimes I think you say things like that just to see what I'll do," Damon muttered, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"That's the first time I've said something just to get a reaction from you. Promise. Everything else was just me being me."

"Yeah." Damon smirked because his little Slayer was quite the quirky human. "I was wondering how the pregnancy thing was going to work out seeing as to how you're still rockin' the V-card."

He didn't look, but he imagined she was blushing, and the fact that she turned her head to hide against his shoulder just reinforced that thought.

"Shh!" she hissed. "How'd you know that, anyway?"

"Aside from the way you act about sex in general? Your blood, it tastes different when you're a virgin," Damon explained.

"Oh."

Rebecca became silent. She wasn't comfortable with sex talk . . . Blood and guts were fine, sex . . . Not so much.

"So how come you haven't been with anyone?" Damon asked, and Rebecca could tell he knew she wasn't exactly in her element with this conversation. He was enjoying making her uncomfortable; payback for her earlier baby comment, maybe?

"I don't know. I've had two boyfriends before you, but I guess . . . I just hadn't found anyone worth giving it to."

"Hadn't?"

Rebecca's cheeks were warm again, but she looked up at him anyway. Damon's eyes were fixated on the road.

"Don't let it go to your head."

Damon didn't answer; he just smirked and squeezed her against him briefly.

He didn't care that he was showing this side of himself now. Number one, Rebecca wouldn't tell. Number two, he and Rebecca were alone, so even if she did tell, no one could prove anything. Number three, he was slowly learning that his feelings were safe with Rebecca.

It still terrified him somewhat because he hadn't allowed himself to be open or to become too attached to anyone since the day Rebecca had disappeared in 1864, and to allow himself to do so now was to allow himself to be open to hurt and vulnerability. It was also making him realize that, to have her, he needed to trust her.

Rebecca didn't know it, but Damon was handing her the ability to shatter his entire existence, but he was also trusting her not to.

* * *

Okay, so obvioiusly the dates in the next chapter which I will not be putting up today, but . . . what did you guys think?


	27. Chapter 23

I know it's been a while, and I'm probably only going to be able to update once a week now because I have so much going on right now in my life. Anyway, this is picking up from where the last chapter left off.

Enjoy their little date!

Chapter Twenty-three

When Rebecca and Damon got to the club they got in rather easily; Damon didn't even have to compel the guy at the door. He'd said he knew the guy, so that was probably the reason.

The inside of the club was made up like an old 70s café - red leather booths and stools at the bar; the floor was black and white - checker patterned. There was a strobe light that made Rebecca dizzy until she got used to it. There were already people on the dance floor and Rebecca was relieved that it wasn't packed too tightly.

Damon watched as Rebecca's face lit up at the scene she was taking in. He'd known she would love it, but watching the delight on her face affected him more than he liked to admit, even to himself.

"You like?" he teased.

"More than like. I didn't even know they had places like this, or I probably would've come here sooner."

Rebecca grabbed his arm and he let her drag him onto the dance floor.

_Hot Blooded_ by Foreigner was playing, and Damon smirked as he got a delicious idea. He put his hands on either side of her waist and pulled her close.

"Do you trust me?" he whispered into her ear and was blown away when she looked in his eyes and he could _see_ the trust in hers. She didn't even have to answer out loud. He hadn't done anything to deserve it, but she gave it freely anyway.

He wasn't used to people trusting him - most people thought there was something iffy about him even without knowing he was a vampire - but if Rebecca was willing to after everything that had happened, he wasn't going to turn it away and he wasn't going to take advantage of it. Trust was a gift that he didn't try to get people to give him because half the time he didn't even trust _himself_ - he knew what he was capable of so he figured he didn't deserve it anyway.

Damon put an arm around her back to keep her steady and gently wedged her legs apart so that one of his own was between hers and one of hers was between his. She looked down a little, but then met his gaze again.

"Relax, it's just a dance," he teased. "I promise. I won't even mention anything else tonight."

She nodded, uncertain. She wasn't exactly sure she wanted to do this; she didn't really know what she was doing. She relaxed slightly when Damon began guiding her hips, teaching her how to roll them just right so she could meet with his. He was . . . teaching her how to dirty dance?

She blushed at the thought, but didn't want to stop. She was with Damon so society's rules didn't have to apply right now. She didn't have to hide who she was when she was with him; he didn't care if she wasn't completely polite or proper or ladylike. She was just herself.

She brought her hands up to lock around the back of his neck so she'd have better balance and smiled as they both loosened up more. She was sure Damon had been wondering if she was going to go through with this. As it was . . .

"I can't believe I'm doing this in public," she said, biting her lip shyly. "But I'm suddenly glad I'm not wearing a skirt."

"Mm, me too. I'm not sure I could keep my hands to myself if you were."

"Right, well, right now it's not your hands I'm worried about."

"Oh? Is it . . . this?" Damon asked, deliberately rolling his hips and brushing his leg against the apex of her thighs.

Her eyes closed briefly and she nodded. "I think I like it more than I should."

Then she did the thing she always did when her word vomit took control, and she scrunched up her nose. Damon just watched, amused, and brushed against her again.

"Tell me to stop and I will," he said into her ear, but she only began rolling _her_ hips now.

She was pressing against his leg, which had been his goal anyway, and letting herself get lost in the rhythm of the music and the sensations of the very intimate dance they were sharing. Damon could hear her heart racing and her breathing become faster and faster. He was picking up the scent of her arousal now and he didn't know if he should stop her or let her keep going. She was going to frustrate herself because of her no sex rule.

But then again, he liked watching her like this. Her mouth was open in surprise at the pleasure this simple act was causing, and her eyes were almost closed. Her teeth were closed over her bottom lip like she was scared it was going to try to run away. She was, in that moment, the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

As for Rebecca, her core was throbbing with a familiar ache and her body was getting warmer and warmer by the second. She'd been aroused before - mostly thanks to the beautiful man she was dancing with - so she knew what was happening. A heat was building in her belly and it got stronger and stronger every time her hips rolled to meet with Damon's.

Oh . . . Wait . . . Damon! _She was in a club_! She was acting this way in public. She froze against him, almost whimpering because the heat - the fire - in her stomach was still burning, and she hid her face against his chest. She was embarrassed that she'd let herself go like that.

"No one's judging you here, Rebecca," Damon's voice came through loud and clear. "Look around. Everyone's doing the same thing we were."

He tipped her chin up and watched as her eyes took in the people around her. She relaxed a bit and he smiled at her innocence; it was refreshing. He wondered if she even knew what she'd been working toward before she'd rudely interrupted herself.

Then he idly thought about how sensitive her body must be to be able to get off from dancing. She was probably one of those girls who could cum many times, one right after the other. He'd have to see _before_ they actually slept together, because there were so many fun possibilities if that were the case.

_Anyway, don't think about that_, Damon told himself. _Not tonight at least_.

They danced a few more times before Damon went to get them drinks. Rebecca picked a semi-private booth in the back and waited for him to come back. She still had adrenaline coursing through her veins from that first dance; she wondered if Damon had done that on purpose.

"So, having fun?" Damon asked, putting her drink down in front of her - she had wanted a strawberry daiquiri. "Oh wait, of course you are. You're with me."

Rebecca laughed. She would never admit it out loud, but she loved the fact that he talked about himself like he was God's gift or something. It was very entertaining. She would just tell him that he was full of himself and move on. Besides, he wasn't as vain as he pretended to be.

Rebecca sipped at her drink, happy that she could only slightly taste the alcohol in it. There wasn't even enough to get tipsy off of, but there _was_ enough to take the edge off.

"So . . . Serious question now," Damon said. "Should I leave you alone for the next month so you can study?"

"You better not leave me alone," Rebecca said with a mock-stern voice. "I'm gonna be spending time with my friends still, so I can spend time with you too." She smiled a little. "Besides, we both know that now that you have me you won't be able to stay away."

Damon arched a brow but didn't say anything. He took a swallow of whatever he was drinking and shook his head.

"What?"

"I think my cockiness is rubbing off on you."

"_You're_ cocky; I'm confident. There's a difference." She shrugged a little. "Though to be fair to you . . . It's not called being cocky if you can back it up."

Done teasing now, she looked at him without any silliness. "I'll never be too busy for you, Damon. I promise. If I ever make you feel that way just grab me and shake me a little. You'll have my full attention then."

* * *

After two more drinks and a few more dances Rebecca just _had_ to pee - damn alcohol. That was her cue to not drink anymore - if she'd been drinking alcohol, which she had, then once she started peeing she knew she'd be making frequent bathroom stops for the rest of the night.

When she got back she stopped for a second because her Slayer radar was going off. Another vampire was here, but the alcohol in her system seemed to be making it harder to place where exactly the vampire was. But, to be honest with herself, she wouldn't have been able to just pick out the vampire anyway. There were too many people and she could only sense the general direction in which a vampire was. But since there was a crowd . . . There were too many people to choose from.

She became aware of a few guys looking at her - she'd never noticed before so she didn't know if it had happened in the past, but it was happening more and more now. She'd noticed that women had been looking at Damon, too, which she got. She would've suggested they get their eyes checked if they _hadn't_ looked because Damon Salvatore was definitely eye candy. And he knew it and enjoyed it.

She began to make her way back to Damon and she used a little of her strength to move through the crowd. She almost slipped into the booth beside him; she blamed the alcohol. That was her story, anyway.

Damon laughed as he watched her clumsiness and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Lightweight," Damon teased.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I haven't had 145 years to build up a tolerance for hard liquor."

Damon had to admit he liked the banter thing they did. At least he wouldn't get bored; the things she said - especially the comebacks she came up with - surprised him.

Not that Damon had really looked for one, but he'd never met anyone like her - not even with the long life he'd had. Most people were predictable, it didn't matter how many people one had in a room, most of them would react to a situation in pretty much the same way. Rebecca _didn't_ react the way other humans did, and it wasn't just the Slayer thing. When he'd come to Mystic Falls - he remembered coming for Katherine and he was so, so glad Rebecca had fixed that - and she'd let him in then, too. She'd genuinely given him a chance and she'd had this 'I trust you until you give me a reason not to' thing, and it wasn't easy to get trust from other people. He remembered he'd sincerely liked her even before the spell that had gone wrong - or _right_ depending on how one looked at it.

He remembered those itty bitty things about Katherine only because it had intermingled with his thoughts of Rebecca. He knew that he'd been in love with Katherine before, but he also knew now because of the spell that Katherine was a bitch and liked ruining things that were good.

Rebecca had rewritten history a little, seeing as to how he was here for her now, and he didn't really remember what had happened originally, what had made him love Katherine especially if she'd compelled him to begin with.

"There's another vampire here," Rebecca whispered. "Can't tell who it is because of all the people, but whoever it is, they just got here."

Damon gave the room a once over because Rebecca was with him. Vampires could sense Slayers just like the Slayer could sense vampires. Whoever it was, though, could just be there to have a good time like he and Rebecca were. No harm, no foul.

He'd be careful just in case, though, since Rebecca was with him and was a little too drunk to take care of herself. Though, now that he thought about it, a drunken Rebecca trying to fight would be a sight to see.

As he looked around he saw many people looking their way - guys hating him and girls hating Rebecca; he just smirked and moved onto the next person, taking in their body language. Most where just hormonal time bombs wanting to get laid.

* * *

Rebecca and Damon danced to a few slow songs and Damon could tell Rebecca was perfectly content to never leave the safety of his arms. To be perfectly honest, it felt nice to him, too, just to be here with her. To feel something other than emptiness. Damon knew that both he and Rebecca were jagged puzzle pieces, but they fit together perfectly. They were both a little twisted - or, in his case, a _lot_ twisted - but that was okay, too.

They were at the club for at least three hours; they didn't leave until after eleven, and they would've stayed longer, but Rebecca's dad had given Damon a strict home-by-midnight rule. It was better than ten, she guessed.

The road was semi-deserted since most everybody was inside one of the clubs or bars along the street. Damon was taking care of the bill - she didn't know if that meant he was paying for it or compelling the bartender to think he had - and she intended to wait for him in the car. But since things hardly _ever_ worked out the way she wanted them to . . . She didn't get to wait.

She was grabbed from behind before she could even register there was a vampire around and was in a back alley in less than a second. It had happened so fast nobody human would've been able to see it. A hand was covering her mouth, too, so she couldn't scream or make much noise at all exactly.

Meanwhile, in the bar, Damon was in the middle of paying the bartender when this bad, wrong feeling came over him; it was like this pit was growing in his stomach. He didn't know how he knew, but he did know that something was horribly wrong with Rebecca. He somehow knew she was in trouble.

He hurried outside and his fear was confirmed when he found his car door had been left open. He looked around almost frantically and focused his hearing outward to see if he could hear anything. All he could hear was the music from inside the club and some mumbling from the people around him.

He grabbed the leather bag Rebecca had brought with her and slammed the car door shut. He went to the places _he_ would've taken a victim, his mind aware that there had been at least one more vampire in the club they'd just been in.

He knew Rebecca wouldn't have just gone off on her own, so the logical conclusion was that she'd been forced to go with someone. They were in Richmond and there were hundreds of little places a vampire could've taken her, there were hundreds of places a _human_ could've taken her too.

There was a sound of scuffling like trashcan's being thrown to the ground, and he rushed toward the noise. He got there right in time to see Rebecca fall on her ass. There were two vampires and she had gone to swing at one to punch him; she'd been off by about six inches and she'd attacked the air.

He would've laughed if the two vampires hadn't been getting ready to pounce. Rebecca's leather bag weighed heavily in his hands, reminding him that he had weapons to dispose of these two, and he had two stakes in his hands before he even realized what he was doing. He took out the one closest to Rebecca, who was getting up now, and was just getting ready to stake the second one when Rebecca grabbed his arm.

"Wait! I know him," she said.

"So, he was gonna kill you!"

"I didn't say you couldn't kill him, I told you to wait." She shoved the vampire up against the wall. "You were one of the two vampires who were left at the warehouse that night."

Damon looked at the vampire anew. He wasn't more than a few months old as a vampire; he couldn't be or Rebecca wouldn't have been able to shove him so easily.

"Who hired you?" she asked.

The vampire didn't answer so Damon shoved the stake into the vampire's side.

"We're only gonna ask one more time and then I'm gonna get testy," Damon said, and watched Rebecca scrunch her nose up in disgust at his interrogation technique, but she didn't say anything against it. She may not have been happy with it, but she knew they needed answers.

"Now, who hired you?"

"And why did they want you to steal what they sent you for?"

Rebecca couldn't believe she was part of this. Torturing someone for information. She kind of hated herself for it, and she was glad she had a few drinks in her; she might not have been able to deal otherwise.

"No one knew you were going to be there. We didn't want you to get hurt. Wrong place, wrong time."

Damon twisted the stake enough to cause a few seconds of pain and the vampire clenched his jaw, but the vampire part of him emerged and began fighting back. Predator instincts; vampires don't just give up.

"He'll kill me if I tell you."

"What d'you think we're gonna do if you don't?" Damon asked, voice losing the usual nonchalance it usually held. Rebecca had nearly died that night at the warehouse and probably would've if he hadn't gotten to her in time.

"Who is _he_?" Rebecca asked. "The way you talked he doesn't want me dead, so why did you attack me?"

"We need those books. He needs them. To study you, learn about you."

"Why?"

The guys shrugged his shoulders. "I don't ask him about his business, you know. And you can go ahead and shove that stake wherever you want, because I'm not telling you anything."

"Are there more of you? Do you know where I live?" Rebecca asked.

It terrified her, the thought of her putting everyone she cared about in danger just because she was the Slayer.

"There will always be more of us," the vampire said. "But no, we don't know where you live; we were surprised that you showed up here tonight."

Rebecca didn't know if he was being honest or not, but she knew he wasn't going to be useful anymore, so she nodded at Damon, letting him take the reigns now. She knew this vampire had to die, because if he were to stay alive he would just go running to tell the boss about her and neither she nor Damon would allow that to happen.

The vampire probably wasn't entirely innocent, but she was sorry he had to die. All he'd wanted was the books he'd tried to steal at the warehouse and hadn't succeeded in doing.

She locked eyes with Damon again and this time he was the one who nodded. It was so infinitesimal that she barely caught it. She knew he wasn't sorry for having to kill the vampire in front of him - he had to die; they both knew it - but he might've been a little sorry for her having to be a part of it.

Rebecca watched as the vampire mummified and turned grayish. She took out her cell phone and dialed the sheriff's number; she knew if she wanted Liz to trust her that she'd have to let her in on some of these things. She felt Damon's eyes on her as the sheriff answered. Rebecca wasn't sure, but it sounded like she'd just woken up.

She told Liz where she was and then Liz, in turn, asked her to wait there until she arrived. She'd take care of it, but she needed to talk to her about what had happened.

"Okay, I'll be here. Could you tell my dad that I'll be a little late coming home? He wanted me there by midnight, but that's just not gonna happen now."

"I'll just bring him with me."

"Okay, but subtly, okay? Because Tina doesn't know about any of this."

"Got it."

She hung up and turned to see Damon was squatting down beside the now dead vampire, patting over his pockets.

"What're you looking for?" she asked.

"Some kind of ID, driver's license or something. I want to know who he is."

"Why? It's kind of a moot point now, isn't it? He's dead and I'm sure he's not carrying the name of the guy he's working for in his wallet. What do we tell the sheriff about this, anyway?"

"The truth? The vampires attacked you and now they're dead," Damon said, shrugging indifferently. "I was here and I helped.

Rebecca nodded. "Okay. Did I tell you about the vampires? Or did Zach tell you, or did you just find out tonight?"

"Mm . . . tonight. Then you explained."

"Kay. Well, maybe you should be more panicked then. Normal people would probably be going into shock right now."

"I don't do shock. Never have. I'm good." Damon eyed her carefully. "You?"

"What?"

Damon gestured to the vampires. He wanted to know how she was with the torture session, apparently.

"We needed answers," she said, bringing her arms up to hug herself. "We didn't get what we wanted, but we got enough for now."

Damon was having an internal war. Should he pull her close or let her deal with this on her own. He knew that when she had her arms wrapped around herself it meant she wanted someone _else_ to be doing it instead, but since she'd watched him torture somebody . . . Would she want him to be the one to comfort her?

"I mean, it was bound to happen sometime, right?" she asked, her voice full. "I need to get used to these things because chances are it's gonna happen again, right?"

Damon, not being someone who believed in false comfort, just nodded and decided he didn't give a damn about making her deal with it on her own. He wrapped his arms around her and she didn't resist when he pulled her close; she wrapped her arms around his waist and he felt as she locked her hands together behind his back.

Even though Damon knew she was stressing about the two vampires, Damon was more worried about the fact that somebody wanted to study Slayers - hence the attempted theft at the warehouse - and that there were vampires working for whoever it was. Probably not a human. Another more powerful vampire, maybe, or a witch. Or would it be warlock, since the vampire had used the word 'he'.

Though it might not be a he; the vampire could've been lying. But whoever the boss was, he or she was obviously worth dying for.

* * *

Once Sheriff Forbes got there, along with Rebecca's father, the first question was why they were there.

"I had noticed that Rebecca seemed really stressed out and I brought her here," Damon answered. "We both like to dance, so . . ."

His gaze swept over to Rebecca. Her eyes held some intense emotion that was almost too painful to see. He recognized it as self-loathing since he had some experience in that department. Rebecca didn't like hurting people - yeah, she enjoyed the physical outlet of fighting, but she never really wanted to hurt anyone. And when she was fighting she usually went for the kill quickly; she didn't draw out the agony any longer than completely necessary.

Rebecca's father was checking Rebecca over for wounds and it seemed to make her uncomfortable; from what she'd told Damon, her dad wasn't that attentive. Or he hadn't been, anyway.

Robert was moving Rebecca's head from side to side, pushing her hair out of the way, as if her neck was the only place a vampire would've bitten her. Rebecca put up with it for about thirty seconds and then she tugged away.

"I'm fine, Dad. I fell on my butt, not my face."

Sheriff Forbes asked for the story and got their version of it. Mostly truth: Damon had come out after paying the bill and had heard the fight, and since there were two he intervened. Rebecca had told him what to do and then had explained what had happened. But he was good; no trauma.

Robert thanked him, though, for looking out for his _little girl_. Damon almost smirked when Rebecca rolled her eyes at Robert's use of those words. She was probably fighting back the need to tell her father just how much she wasn't his little girl. The only reason he was even becoming involved in her life at all was because of the Slayer thing.

Damon cleared his throat when he felt it tighten and then mentally kicked himself. _What_ was wrong with him lately? It was almost like his switch wouldn't work for him when he wanted it to, which didn't make any sense; it had always worked before so . . . What was so different about it now?

The truth of it was that seeing Rebecca with her father reminded Damon of his own father. He'd been great to Stefan, who had gone out of his way to keep their dad happy, but hadn't been good to Damon at all, because Damon had learned at an early age that nothing would satisfy his father except for perfect obedience. Damon had known he wouldn't have lived up to those expectations, so he hadn't even tried.

Giuseppe Salvatore had always thought of Damon as irresponsible and insolent, but the fact was that he just hadn't wanted to live like his father. He'd known about Katherine's vampirism before she'd started compelling him to do things for her, a fact that he hadn't been able to remember until after he'd been killed, but he hadn't judged her because of it. He was fairly certain that his human self would've tried to help her even if he hadn't thought he'd loved her, because, if Katherine had left him and Rebecca alone, Rebecca would've tried to help. It would've made him help just so he could make sure nothing happened to Rebecca.

_Jeeze, I'm becoming just as bad a Stefan_, he berated himself. _Snap out of it_!

Rebecca had been watching Damon's face very carefully because he'd suddenly - very suddenly - looked completely sad, heartbroken even, and she didn't understand why. It didn't fit the situation at all, and she could just feel that something was off.

So, while her dad and the sheriff were taking care of the two bodies, she went to him. She didn't speak; she just looked at him, concerned. His jaw clenched and his expression became closed off. He was in one of his moods apparently, so she didn't push.

"Rebecca, come on, we're going," her dad called to her and she frowned. She gestured for him to wait a second and he nodded and went with the sheriff to her car.

Rebecca grabbed Damon's hand and she half-expected him to jerk away, but he didn't. She assumed that meant that whatever was wrong, it didn't have anything to do with her.

"Hey, I don't know what's wrong, but I'm gonna leave my bedroom window unlocked tonight if you need me, okay?"

Damon nodded and tried not to feel the jolt of relief at her loyalty but felt it anyway.

She kept hold of his hand until she was out of reach and then had to let go. He still had his hand held out for her as she walked backwards a few steps, and she knew she must still look worried, but she didn't voice her concern.

As she got to the car that the sheriff and her dad had arrived in she randomly thought about what could've been on Damon's mind that had upset him like that. She hoped whatever it was that he would deal with it in a non-violent way.

She wondered if she maybe should've stayed with him, if she'd been there maybe . . . Maybe he would've felt better sooner. Or, hell, it might've made him feel worse.

_Who knows_, she thought, getting comfortable in the backseat of the cop car.

* * *

When Rebecca got home, her dad told her that her aunt had been in bed when he'd been called away. That was good; she didn't have to come up with an explanation as to why she'd been escorted home by the sheriff.

"Are you all right? You were awfully quiet on the way home."

Rebecca shrugged as they made their way into the house, turning on the light in the living room as they went.

"Just worried about Damon. After everything that happened, I don't think he should be alone. I know I didn't wanna be when I found out."

Rebecca found that the lie had come out easier than any had previously in her life - maybe because she was speaking in half-truths.

They sat silently in the kitchen for twenty minutes, the only light coming from the living room lamps. Her eyes had adjusted a while ago and she could make out all the minute moves her dad made. He was nursing a beer and she was nursing a cup of strong coffee.

"I'm supposed to go to Bonnie's sometime tomorrow. She's been wanting to hang out for a while now and with everything that's been going on . . . I just haven't had the time."

"That's fine," her dad said.

She had to keep herself from telling him that she hadn't been asking for permission; she'd only been giving him a head's up so he wouldn't plan on having her do anything else.

"Then I'm going to see Jeremy. He needs homework help or something."

Plus, she wanted to see if he was okay since Damon had erased his memories.

"Then on Sunday, I have to train. I've been slacking there lately."

She downed her coffee and placed the cup in the sink, ran water in it, and then sighed. "I'm gonna go to bed now. Sorry I had to make you leave the house so late."

"Glad you had the sheriff call me out."

"Sure, uh . . . Bed. Good night. Don't drink too much."

She wasn't used to being affectionate with her dad because he wasn't affectionate with her, but she gave him a hug anyway before going to brush her teeth and retire for the night. She'd noticed lately that her dad wasn't drinking as much, and she wondered if he'd done it before because he'd felt lonely with the information he'd had planted in his brain. Speaking of . . . She still didn't know anything about how he knew any of this. She'd have to find out somehow.

After her nightly routine was over she went to her room. Since Damon wasn't there she only wore a T-shirt to bed. A long one that came down almost to her knees. She turned her little TV on and kept it down low so that it was only background noise and fell into a fitful sleep.

* * *

At the boardinghouse, Damon was sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace just watching the flames dance. He hadn't thought about his dad in a long, long time and everything about his idiot of a father came rushing back.

It had hit him hard; and then he couldn't find his damn humanity switch like it wasn't even there, or like it was broken or something.

Damon was aware of Stefan pacing upstairs and it was slowly grating on his nerves. Shouldn't he have been asleep already? Or at least he could have been doing something other than pacing.

"You're gonna burn a hole in the floor if you're not careful, Stefan," he called out.

There was a slight pause in the pacing, but then it started up again. Apparently his brother wasn't able to take a hint.

Damon rolled his eyes. "That meant I wanted you to stop."

He knew full well that Stefan could hear him; he just wasn't listening. So there Damon was, sitting alone in front of the fire. He wasn't sure when exactly being alone had started to bother him again, but he was only acknowledging it now. He was sure it had something to do with Rebecca just like everything else that was resurfacing did.

He also knew full well that Stefan was a little jealous - not because of Rebecca; that would've caused more problems, Damon was sure. No, Stefan was a little jealous that Damon had a girl that wasn't afraid of the vampire thing. Elena had told Stefan that she couldn't be with him - she would never tell anyone his secret, but she couldn't be with him just the same. It was due to Rebecca that Damon wasn't upstairs bragging right now.

It was close to two o'clock in the morning, so he knew he shouldn't, but Rebecca had specifically told him that if he needed her he could come through her window. And he _did_ need her for the simple fact that being in her presence made him feel better, less alone, and, for the first time since she'd disappeared in the past, alive - she made him feel alive and more human.

_Which is stupid_, he told himself, _because I'm not human_.

And Rebecca was human . . . And beautiful . . . And brilliant. Scary, sometimes with the way she reacted to things, but brilliant nonetheless.

He ran to Rebecca's house faster than he could drive, and stopped when he reached her window. She'd left a small crack in the window so he opened it and jumped in gracefully. She was sleeping now, covers pulled up almost over her head. One hand was curled underneath her cheek and her long honey-blond hair flowed over the pillows.

Damon didn't know what it was about her, but she made all his nerve endings come to life, and, even though it excited him, it terrified him, too, because that meant it would be easier for him to lose control with her than with anyone else.

Her skin had an unearthly glow to it due to the TV flickering between colors and it mesmerized him for a second. He felt drawn to her, pulled by some invisible thread that bound them together. He wanted her - all the time - but he knew he couldn't have her right then. _She_ wasn't ready for such a relationship leap and at that moment, were he to wake her, it would be a leap and not just a small step.

It felt like they'd been together longer than they actually had been due to all the things they'd faced together recently. And he said 'together' because he'd realized that since Rebecca was with him he didn't have to be alone anymore; he didn't have to only rely on himself.

He went to lay beside her, knowing she wouldn't mind it if she woke up to find him there. He barely touched her, but she immediately curled against him and threw an arm over his middle. Then she hummed in contentment and he smiled at the knowledge that she seemed to know _he_ was there even though she was sleeping.

Throughout the night Damon kept an ear out for her dad and her aunt like he always did when he stayed the night. A couple hours after he'd fallen asleep - even in sleep his hearing was better than the average human - he woke up because the bed was shaking.

He grinned when he realized it was because Rebecca was kicking at the covers, which had somehow wrapped itself around her legs. He helped her get free and she became still again. But he realized she was only in an oversized T-shirt. Her sun-kissed legs were completely bare and her shirt had ridden up to reveal white lacy panties.

_Really? Why does she hate me?_

He vaguely wondered if the hair between her thighs was the same color as the hair on her head, but he banished that thought as soon as it had entered his mind. It was not the time to be thinking about that.

He let his gaze travel upward and stopped at the small peaks of her breasts and noticed she wasn't wearing a bra. That wasn't the least bit helpful, he noted.

Then he looked at her neck, long and slender, her pulse pumping along healthily. He knew he couldn't just wake her up so he could feed, but ever since he'd attacked her the day she'd let him out of the cellar he'd been craving her blood. He was just glad he had enough control not to take her whenever he wanted.

He closed his eyes and focused on relaxing every part of his body, otherwise something bad would happen, and drifted back to sleep. Only this time he was the one who had his arm around her.

He couldn't believe he'd forgotten how good it felt just to _be_ with her, to be beside her. Time had obviously tainted his memories of their time together in the past. But he guessed it didn't matter because he had all the time in the world to make new memories

* * *

Okay, so . . . what do you think? I was aiming for sexy with the dance at the beginning, but it might have come across as awkward instead. LOL. I have no idea. Leave a review if you want. I can't get better if I don't know what I'm doing wrong.


	28. Explanation

And yet another explanation . . . I hate technology. Seriously a couple days after I put the other explanation my computer crashed. Yeah, a friend of mine was trying to get the errors to go away from the computer and there were updates for the windows, as soon as we pushed the install button the system crashed. I guess there was something on there that was compatible with my system, and it's pretty much gone now. I can still go to my mom's and use hers or to the library until I get a new one, but don't expect updates all the time anymore. Sorry.


	29. Chapter 24

Okay, so I would've had this up sooner, but 1) the computer was messed up, completely and 2) when I typed it out before it wouldn't let me upload it. LOL. Technology, man, seriously. Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-Four

When Rebecca woke up there was a small pounding in her head and she immediately brought her hands up to her temples to massage the ache away.

"Oh, I feel like hell this morning," she muttered, and heard a small chuckle.

She glared over at Damon but found his eyes were closed so he hadn't seen anyway. Other than the headache she was completely fine with waking up with him there.

"Mm, I like seeing you when I first get up," she said, moving to put her head on his chest. "It makes the getting up early part less bad."

"It's after eleven, so it's not that early. How's your head?"

"Oh, nothin' a couple of aspirin won't fix. I'll be okay."

"Mm. Your aunt and dad left about an hour ago. Your aunt took Chelsea; I hid until she went away." He opened his eyes and she smiled at him. "Robert said you wanted to visit with Bonnie so he doesn't know when he'll be back."

"Oh. Okay."

A few seconds later Damon had maneuvered them so he could place his mouth on hers and, as usual, she couldn't find it in her to resist him. Not that she wanted to; she happened to like his kisses. Kissing Damon was slowly becoming her favorite thing to do.

She responded eagerly to his touch and let out a sigh of contentment when he kissed a path from her jaw down to her neck. The trail of wetness his tongue had left behind made her shiver when the air hit it, and she felt him shake with silent laughter at her reactions.

She gasped in surprise when he went lower and placed his mouth over her breast without taking off her shirt. She felt his teeth skim over her nipple and she arched her back as pleasure shot through her.

And he was . . . he was being so mean. He knew she didn't want anything to happen, not really, yet he was going to get her all worked up anyway. Was he trying to make her give in right at that instant? Because that . . . wasn't being fair. How was she supposed to think rationally with him doing those very sinful things with his mouth?

She felt his hand slide over the flesh of her thighs, and her first instinct was to push him away. But then she noticed how careful he was being and she melted into his touch. His fingers skimmed over the center of her panties, and her breath caught in her throat.

She liked what he was doing and she wanted him to continue, but she also wanted him to stop because she knew she wasn't ready to return the favor. For Damon it had been 145 years; for her . . . it had only been a couple months.

Damon, however, wasn't looking for sex as a payback; no, he wanted something else right now. Her blood - it had been calling to him for hours. His eyes burned into hers, willing her to understand what he wanted so he wouldn't have to ask.

He slowly moved her panties aside, giving her enough time to stop him if she desired, but she just looked at him. She seemed a little nervous - but he figured that was because no other man had touched her before.

"You can relax," he said softly. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

His fingers slid into her wetness and he found her clit automatically and began massaging. After she had relaxed a little, he began kissing her again. He was pleasantly surprised that she parted her legs for him even more. Apparently whatever misgivings she'd had before were gone now, so he gently slid one finger into her slick heat before slowly adding another.

She began muttering against his lips and he smiled when he heard his name tumbling from her mouth. Her body began jerking in time with his fingers and he could tell she was close.

But then she opened her eyes and he noticed she looked a little panicked and he stopped moving his hand.

"What? What's wrong?"

Her lips hadn't stopped moving yet; she obviously wanted the friction back.

Rebecca's face turned bright red. "You're making me feel like I have to pee," she muttered.

Damon let out a heartfelt laugh; he'd thought something was really wrong, that maybe he'd accidentally hurt her. Funny how a simple sentence could show how innocent his little Slayer really was.

"You're not gonna pee." He moved his fingers inside and brushed against the bundle of nerves on her womanly walls. He watched as she bit her lip to keep from making noise. "Do you still feel it?"

"Yes, when you . . . do that."

"Well," he said, starting up again, "it's normal for a girl to feel that way when that part of her body is being . . . _stimulated_." He drew out every syllable of the word to make it much longer than it was.

He began kissing her neck and she arched her head back, giving him better access, obviously knowing what he wanted.

"May I?"

"Yes," she whispered breathlessly.

Damon planned it just right so that his fangs sank into her flesh just as the first wave of orgasm rocked through her body. It was so the pleasure would take her mind off of the few seconds of pain.

Rebecca cried out and he noticed her entire body was trembling. Her walls clamped down around his fingers and he was amazed by how tight she was. Or maybe that was just the Slayer muscles coming in to play. And for the first time since he'd started this, he thought maybe he should just . . . press a little. God, he wanted her.

Then there was her blood, made even sweeter by the hormones racing through her veins. He was careful not to spill any of it, seeing as to how this was a gift she was willing to share with him. And this was an intimate thing in and of itself, her sharing her life with him.

He was vaguely aware that she was coming down from her high and began flicking his thumb over her clit, though he was carefully holding her still, too, so that she wouldn't jerk away from his bite and cause herself damage.

Rebecca felt like she had just caught her breath when another earth shattering orgasm crashed into her. She grabbed onto the sheet and squeezed as her body shook. She felt so good in that moment that she couldn't even speak. All she could do was make little noises of pleasure that sounded like they got stuck in the back of her throat.

She'd had orgasms before - by her own hand - but she'd never had anything bigger than a tampon inside her and she was surprised it felt good. And it was true, what Damon was doing did make her feel like she had to pee until she actually came. She realized the feeling had been the build up and she didn't worry about it anymore.

She wasn't sure whether it was just her or if it was because Damon knew what he was doing, but it felt like she'd barely come down from one orgasm before she was rolling into another one. It happened four times, and then Damon stopped drinking from her and bit into his wrist and she took a few sips from him so her neck would heal.

She vaguely wondered if she'd come so many times because he'd been biting her; could a vampire control that?

When she came down from her fourth orgasm she slumped against the mattress and felt herself giggle. She felt completely . . . stress-free at that moment. Damon arched an eyebrow in question.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just if I had known how good that would feel I probably would've let you do it sooner."

Damon laughed again and stroked her cheek gently. He kissed her tenderly but kept his mouth closed. He didn't know how she would feel about tasting her own blood, so it was best to just keep it to himself.

She let out a small yawn and her eyes fluttered closed for a few seconds. She was surprised, but her headache had gone away. She'd been sure the exertion alone would've made it worse, but it hadn't.

"Orgasms cure everything," Damon said as if he'd sensed her thoughts.

She shook her head and smiled fondly. "You're such a guy."

"But it worked, didn't it?"

"Yeah, yeah."

She sat up then, slowly in case she got dizzy or lightheaded, but she didn't.

She bit her lip, suddenly self-conscious. She hadn't planned on letting Damon do that, and she didn't regret it but she was concerned with one thing.

Before she started speaking she grabbed a tissue off the bedside table and began cleaning her neck; Damon took the tissue away and did it himself.

"Was that normal? The, um . . ." She felt her face heat up because she couldn't believe she was going to say this to Damon of all people. "Um . . . Well, ya know, girls talk and a lot of them have said they can't . . . uh . . ."

She saw Damon smirking. He hadn't even tried to keep a straight face. He was enjoying her embarrassment.

"You're gonna make me say it, aren't you?"

"Absolutely."

"Okay then. They say it's hard for them to have one orgasm, let alone four, so . . . back to my question. Was that normal?"

Damon watched as her face slowly got back to it's normal color. Her sexuality made her uncomfortable. He didn't know why; it was a good thing she was responsive. It wasn't something to be ashamed of.

"It's normal for you," Damon said.

He couldn't believe he was having this conversation but he was beginning to see why she had a no sex rule if the thought of her doing it made her uncomfortable. Or maybe it was just the thought of her enjoying it so much. Oh, he hoped her parents hadn't been the type that had told her she was just supposed to grin and bear it. Or that if a woman enjoyed sex it was because she was a whore. He knew that didn't happen very often anymore, but there were still a few out there.

"Every girl is different," he told her. "Hell, every time is different. It may not be so easy next time, it all depends. A lot of it has to do with who you're with, whether you're willing to let yourself go or not."

"Oh . . . okay. That makes sense, I guess."

"There's nothing wrong with you enjoying that; it was the whole point of it, actually." He just wanted to clear that up in case anyone else had ever told her differently. "It just means you have a sensitive body and you respond easily, and there's nothing wrong with that either. It's better that way. You'll enjoy it more when we -"

"Shh!" she said, blushing again. "I get the point, but I don't need that image in my head."

Damon smirked and said, "But it's already there."

"That's totally beside the point." Rebecca stretched and then stood up. "I'm gonna go take a shower, won't take but five minutes."

"Okay. Do you want breakfast?"

She smiled to herself; he was offering to fix her breakfast. Though she supposed it was only fair seeing as to how she'd _been_ his breakfast.

"An omelet, please. Ham and cheese on top." She kissed his cheek and then let her lips slide to the corner of his mouth. "I _really_ like you when you're like this."

"Like what?"

"When you're just being you. When there aren't any walls separating us. When we can just . . . be."

She kissed him once more and then walked away to go take the shower she'd mentioned.

* * *

Out in the kitchen Damon got to work on Rebecca's omelet that she wanted. Now that he'd gotten what he wanted and had given Rebecca what she hadn't even known she'd wanted he could focus on other stuff.

Like the fact that there was someone out there trying to learn about Slayers. Now, he didn't care about Slayers in general, but since Rebecca was the Slayer now . . . he cared a lot. From what the vampire had said, they weren't looking to hurt her, but they _had_. They had, and that pissed him off royally. He was glad Rebecca liked having him around because he was planning on becoming almost annoyingly protective, at least until he was certain that no one was coming for her.

Rebecca had seemed to take it at face value, and he thought that was a little naive of her, but he figured that it was because she was so young. She had yet to learn that not everybody was as honest as her - that people would lie just to hurt her, to get to her.

But he _had_ learned that, so until she learned for herself he'd just have to watch out for her himself.

He heard Rebecca before she came into the kitchen and he smiled when he felt her arms wrap around him from the back. He was slowly becoming used to the sudden bursts of joy she could bring out of him. And she'd been right; the happiness, no matter how fleeting, made the bad things easier to deal with.

"Mm, every girl should have one of you," she whispered teasingly, brushing her lips against his neck. "Do you know how hard it is to find a guy that knows how to cook like you do?"

"Nobody cooks like I do," he said, smirking even though she couldn't see it. "_I_ can do everything better than any other guy you're likely to meet."

"Mm." She laughed and let go of him. "I would disagree, but . . ."

"But you can't. Because I am the best . . . boyfriend . . . ever."

Her heart skipped a beat, and he looked at her. Her smile was breathtaking and, for the first time in almost a century and a half, _his_ undead but still pumping heart skipped a beat too.

"You actually said it out loud," she said softly. "The boyfriend thing. I have a legitimate claim to you now because you said it."

Rebecca watched Damon take in what she'd just said. It was fun watching him slowly learning to trust her. Fun and also heartwarming because she knew how hard it was for him to let anyone in. And for him to let her in, for him to think that his heart was safe with her, made her appreciate the gesture even more. Even if it was like a sort of 'one step forward and two steps back' thing with him. The point was he was trying for her, like he'd said he would.

Finally Damon said, "As long as it goes both ways."

"Okay," she agreed; she didn't mind the thought of belonging to Damon Salvatore. There were way worse things.

She began to make coffee as Damon, who had been dicing up the ham, started actually making her omelet now. The coffee got done just as her food did, and she poured them both a cup.

"How do you take yours?"

"Black, no sugar."

"Uck! Isn't that bitter?"

"It's different with vampire taste buds."

Rebecca didn't say anything, she just shook her head at how unusual but mostly comfortable her life had become. There were very few moments when she was with Damon that didn't register in the good part of her brain. And even when they did have problems it was very easy to get over it. Well, _she_ got over it, anyway. And he had yet to have any real problems with her, so he didn't really have anything he needed to get over.

"So you're goin' to Bonnie's today?"

"Uh, her Grams' house, actually. And then Jeremy wanted me to come over to help with his homework, which is weird because last time I checked he was still a stoner."

"He's not suffering anymore," Damon said. "He doesn't need the drugs."

"Oh . . ." Damon's compulsion had fixed that, at least, though Rebecca still wished that Jeremy could've worked it out on his own. Or that he'd at least had the chance to and, if that hadn't worked, then she might have been okay with making him forget. "So . . . no jealous comment about Jeremy?"

"No." His eyes didn't harden at all; in fact, the opposite happened. "I saw how you were with him the night Vicki was killed. You two are like family, like you said."

Rebecca figured the fact that he'd seen it with his own two eyes was the reason he trusted her more now.

* * *

Rebecca was being _walked_ to Grams' house by Damon, who was being overly cautious in her opinion. She'd be able to feel if any vampires were around, and as far as she knew, Damon and Stefan were the only ones who could walk around during the day. And it was daytime at the moment.

"Are you really worried about what that guy said?" she asked. "I don't think he was lying."

"But he could've been and, better safe than sorry and all that."

"Huh. Well, okay then."

When they got to the house she kissed him on the cheek and then went up to the porch and knocked.

"Hey, call me when you get to Jeremy's," Damon called after her.

She smiled his way before Grams' opened the door. Grams looked at Damon with a weird expression before she let Rebecca in.

"Hey, Grams," Rebecca said. "I take it Bonnie's not here yet."

"No, but she did explain to me what happened."

"Oh."

"Damon Salvatore, huh?"

"Um . . ." Rebecca nodded, and wondered how much the thin older witch knew about the Salvatore's.

"That explains what Bonnie felt."

"What?"

"The connection between you two. Vampire/human relationship. The bond is strong. It means he's fed from you and you were willing."

"Well, we like each other," Rebecca said, following Grams into the kitchen.

"It's more than that, though." Grams held her hand out for Rebecca's own hand, and she gave it to Grams willingly. "You're connected, the two of you."

Rebecca watched Grams close her eyes and she waited patiently for whatever Grams was trying to do, or trying to see.

"The first time you met him something happened, something weird."

Something weird? Something other than the fact that he was a vampire and she'd felt it? She just hadn't known what it had been at the time.

"Uh . . . there was an electric shock, sort of, that went through us. I don't know who caused it, but it was there."

"You sparked the small piece of humanity that was left in him," Grams said. "It's rare, but it happens. Part of you is connected to a part of him. And part of him is connected to you."

"Is that . . . bad?" Rebecca asked, trying to put the pieces together.

_Please don't be bad! Please don't be bad!_ She didn't need any other complications in her relationship with Damon.

It didn't surprise her that they were connected, though. It made sense, actually. And the fact that she'd known when he'd been in trouble made more sense now.

"It's dangerous," Grams admitted. "Since you're a part of each other . . . you both have the ability to break the other. You can hurt each other more than any other person in the world. But you can also make each other happier than any other person can."

"Oh?" Well . . . wow. "What does . . . um . . . is that why we feel the way we do? This connection makes us love each other?"

Grams let go of her hand and smiled at her with maternal concern. Rebecca looked away and felt her eyes well up. She didn't want Damon's love if it was forced on him. She wanted him to want her for her, not because of some mystical bond that she'd only just realized existed.

"Do you feel like you're being made to love him?"

Did she? She sometimes wondered what made her loyal to him when he could be a real jerk when he wanted to be, but . . .

"No," she admitted. "I love him because of who he . . . can be when he lets himself be."

Grams smiled again, this time not concerned. "You know . . . the connection wasn't there when he was human and he loved you anyway. It's not forced, Rebecca."

Rebecca's mouth opened and closed and she was pretty sure she looked like a fish out of water. She hadn't told Grams about Damon as a human, so how did she know?

"I _am_ a witch, sweetie. I know how history changed. I can see things beyond human perception, remember?"

"Hm."

"I know you saved him, made him better, at least a little, because he has something to be better for."

"So . . . that spell was supposed to give me what I wanted. What was it?"

"Can you not think of anything that you have now and didn't before?"

"Well, I have Damon, but it couldn't have been him I wanted because I didn't even know he was a vampire, and therefore I wouldn't have known to end up back in 1864. So . . ."

Their discussion was interrupted by Bonnie coming in, and Rebecca was suddenly nervous about her finding out. Bonnie was a witch and that meant she couldn't be compelled to forget everything if it was too much for her. So Rebecca made sure that Bonnie wanted to know and she warned Bonnie that it would change everything she thought she knew.

"No, I want to know. Now that I know there's something to know, I need to know."

"Okay, then how do we do this?"

"Follow me," Grams said.

The girls did as she asked and they found themselves in a dimly lit room. The only light was the sun coming through the thick maroon curtains. The room was empty save for the desk-turned-altar in the corner of the room. An altar room, that's where they were. The room had a soft carpet, one of those lush ones that someone could comfortably sleep on.

"All you have to do is imagine what you want her to know and it'll filter through me and into her."

"Okay."

Rebecca figured she could start at the beginning so she thought of the first time she'd met Damon when she'd come out of the girl's bathroom in the Grill. She remembered how she'd kind of been struck dumb when she'd seen how blue his eyes were. She remembered the breathlessness she'd felt when he'd kissed the back of her hand. The beauty of his smile, his _real_ smile, flashed through her mind.

She heard Bonnie's shortness of breath and looked at her weird.

"Careful, Rebecca, she can feel everything you felt."

"Oh . . ."

That was embarrassing. Especially since Rebecca knew how she reacted to Damon. She wasn't sure she _wanted_ Bonnie to feel that. It was private.

"So that was the first time you met him?" Bonnie asked.

"Yeah, and, uh . . . I only think you needed to see that so you'll understand what happens later. The next thing I'm going to show you doesn't have to do with Damon directly, but it has to do with me . . . and it's the beginning of all the weird stuff that you don't know yet. Last chance to back out."

"I'm not backing out," Bonnie said, her mouth forming a firm, defiant line.

Rebecca smiled at Bonnie's attitude. She thought of the day after Vicki Donovan had been attacked the first time at the back-to-school party. The second time around Vicki hadn't been attacked so brutally, not in the rewritten history, so Rebecca didn't focus on the attack itself; she focused on just the bite marks and the fact that it had gotten her attention.

She thought about how that event was the one that had made her decide to come to Grams for help. She envisioned the _Vampire_ book that Grams had given Bonnie to give to her so Bonnie could make the connection. She let Bonnie in on how crazy she'd felt at first for even having to think about otherworldly things because she knew Bonnie was probably feeling the same way. They both had things going on that other people couldn't relate to; they both sometimes felt alone because of it. Then there was the Slayer thing. Rebecca broke it to her gently and she was sure Grams was helping by filtering some of it out.

"Oh, my God. My vision or whatever it is - was - it was real?" Bonnie wrenched her hands free from Grams' and Rebecca's, and her hand flew to her mouth. "Vampires are real?"

"Yes, and that's what I haven't been able to tell you."

Rebecca waited patiently for Bonnie to ask any questions and it took a while.

"If . . . if you, uh, fight them, that means there are vampires here."

"Yes."

"And . . . they're . . . uh, they attack people, drink from them. Vicki . . ." Bonnie's eyes widened and locked on Rebecca. "And Caroline." Her eyes narrowed. "Damon. Damon . . . he . . . Caroline remembered him biting her neck, and Elena saw the bite marks."

"Yes," Rebecca whispered. "But you can't tell anybody. Uh . . . Elena knows. I know. Obviously your Grams knows. My dad knows about me but not about Damon."

"Stefan?"

"He's also a vampire, yes. Neither of them mean you any harm. Damon even made a deal with your ancestor Emily to keep her lineage alive, to keep it going. And Stefan . . . well, he drinks from animals, he doesn't drink from humans. So . . . and Damon doesn't kill if he doesn't have a need to, meaning that aside from a few in-discrepancies . . . he's not here to cause trouble."

_I don't think_, Rebecca thought to herself.

She was silent for a while and she took in Bonnie's thousand yard stare. Bonnie had this sort of innocence about her, and Rebecca felt bad for being the one to steal a piece of it away.

"I know it's a lot to take in, and you probably need time, so just know that I'll answer any questions you have when you're ready. I just need to know you'll keep all this to yourself. You can't tell anyone."

"You know I wouldn't do that to you. I'll keep your secret, and Damon's and Stefan's. I'm just not ready for all this."

"Nobody ever is," Grams said kindly. "But life wouldn't have brought this to you if you couldn't handle it."

* * *

Rebecca stayed with Bonnie for a while and then she walked back home. It was around four when she got there, and her dad and aunt were back, which meant Chelsea was back. The door was already unlocked so she just went in. Her aunt and dad were hugging . . . in the middle of the living room. Though she was more worried about the hugging part.

Rebecca actually did a double-take on that one; she wasn't used to seeing her dad sharing loving embraces with anyone. Weird . . . but cool, she guessed. Though she should really ask Damon if he'd done any mind tricks on her father because he was acting odd.

Her aunt was crying again, but her dad seemed . . . oddly happy and slightly offended. It was a weird mix of emotions, but that's what she was getting.

"Uh . . . hi."

"Becca," her aunt said, giving her a watery smile.

"Tina . . . what's going on?"

"I can stay."

"Um . . . Okay?" What was she crying about? She looked at her dad. "I told her you wouldn't care. You're not _that_ much of an ogre."

There was still a hint of a thought in the back of her mind that something might be going on between Tina and Robert, but Rebecca didn't want to think about that. It was disgusting and wrong on so many levels - she hoped that it wasn't true.

"Okay, well . . . I have to go to Elena's. I promised I'd help Jeremy with his homework. And I'm going to take Chelsea with me."

Before she'd even asked, her dad gave her car keys and told her not to be out too late.

"I know, I know. And call if I'm gonna be late. Got it."

* * *

When Rebecca got to Elena's she called Damon like he'd asked her to just to ease his usually troubled mind, but also because her honesty meant a lot to him and his trust meant a lot to her; so doing what she'd said she would was a good way to gain that.

Jeremy met her at the door with a genuine smile and it almost stopped her heart. Not in a good way, either. It touched her because she knew he wasn't really okay; he was just compelled to think he was.

"Hey, Jer."

"Becca. And Chelsea!"

Jeremy didn't ask before taking the little girl into his arms. Rebecca didn't mind; she thought it was adorable. Jeremy loved Chelsea, and Chelsea loved Jeremy.

Jeremy led Rebecca to his bedroom and she was surprised to see he'd actually meant it when he'd said he wanted help with homework; his text books were spread out on the floor.

"Hm." She smiled vaguely at him. "Where do we start?"

"Uh . . . pick a subject." He looked sheepishly at her. "Not passing any of them right now."

"Um . . . okay."

She looked around and saw a weird looking thing on Jeremy's desk. It was made of beads, rods, and a frame. It was . . . an abacus. The rods were fastened in the frame and each rod stood for a decimal place.

"Uh . . . did you make this?"

"Art class last year. I found it in a box full of my old sketches."

"You're drawing again?" Rebecca asked.

"I want to. I don't know why. I just woke up yesterday and felt like I could again."

"That's, um . . . That's good that you're doing that again, Jer."

He grinned. "Yeah, I didn't know how much I missed it until I started it again."

Rebecca sat on the floor and leaned back against the bed. She picked up the first thing she could get her hands on because her throat was tightening and burning, and her heart was hurting. Everything that was happening to Jeremy, this newfound contentment of his, wasn't real.

The paper she held in her hands was an SAT prep study sheet. He was in the tenth grade, so he would be taking pre-SAT's this year. This study sheet glanced over things he needed to know for history.

"Okay, do you need help with this?"

"No, that I can do on my own."

"Well . . . What do you want me to - you're a smart guy, Jer. You . . . don't really need my help."

The bedroom door opened and Elena poked her head in. She looked at Rebecca suspiciously, and Rebecca rolled her eyes.

"What're you guys doing?"

"Um, well . . . see, I've recently become and avid environmentalist and I'm teaching Jeremy how to recycle," Rebecca said, gathering all the paper around her. "Paper, plastic, aluminum; it can all be reused, Jer."

Jeremy laughed at Rebecca's attitude even though he couldn't possibly understand why she was acting the way she was; Elena, however, didn't look amused at all.

Rebecca was slowly becoming aware that she and Elena didn't see eye-to-eye on a lot of things. She stood up, though, and looked back at Jeremy.

"I'll be right back."

"Sure."

So Rebecca walked out and followed Elena downstairs.

"You can relax; I wasn't corrupting his young brain. You've made it perfectly clear that it's none of my business. He asked me to help him with his homework so I came over. I used to didn't need a reason or an excuse to come see Jeremy or you."

"Becca . . ." Elena's voice was weak.

"No. I used to . . . I thought that I could always count on you. I thought you were . . ." Rebecca sighed, suddenly worn out. "I don't know. I just thought that you were the one who would understand. Or at least wouldn't condemn me for something I have no control over. Maybe I didn't make myself clear but I didn't choose this Slayer thing, it sort of chose me. So I can really do _without_ the attitude, Elena."

Rebecca didn't even try to see how Elena reacted to that. After everything that had happened, especially Elena's distrustful perception of Rebecca, she couldn't bring herself to care if she'd hurt Elena's feelings.

Elena wasn't sparing Rebecca's emotions, so why should Rebecca care about Elena's.

* * *

Okay, so that's the end of this chapter. It took a while for me to type it out. I don't actually have Microsoft word on my computer anymore, so I had to type it on here. LOL. Anyway, I've written smut before or pre-smut . . . whatever you would consider orgasms without actual sex, but I'm always self-conscious about it, so let me know how I did. How can I make it better, do I need more detail, less detail . . .


	30. Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Five

The first week of November went by uneventfully. Rebecca was giving Elena the silent treatment - not so much for the way she'd wanted Damon to erase Jeremy's memories, but more for the way Elena was treating _her_. Rebecca didn't like fighting with Elena, but she couldn't just let her get away with the distrust Elena was still showing her.

She knew it had more to do with her being with Damon than anything else. She knew Elena didn't understand why she was so loyal to the slightly - okay, almost completely - unstable vampire, and she didn't know how to explain it without giving away Damon's history - and she wouldn't do that. Rebecca, in turn, didn't understand why Elena was blaming her for just associating herself with Damon.

Bonnie knew now and she still treated Rebecca the same as she always had. Yes, she was worried because she knew about Damon's vampire-ism and all, but she wasn't blaming Rebecca for hanging with him.

Rebecca had sort of worked things out with Diana, her semi-useful Watcher, and she had Diana researching ghosts and cursed objects, and she'd left out Bonnie's name even though looking back . . . Since Sheila had worked for the Watcher's Council before she'd come back to Mystic Falls . . . Diana probably already knew who she'd been talking about.

Rebecca hung out with Bonnie, Jeremy, and Caroline. Caroline was worried about her, too, but that was because of how messed up her mind was since Damon had fed from her. She was kind of confused because she'd remembered him biting her - not feeding from her, but biting all the same - and she'd remembered liking it, but then she started remembering things in different ways and that was when Rebecca realized that Damon hadn't made her forget the last time; Stefan had, and he'd admitted his compulsion didn't work all the time, not the right way. But Stefan had had to have done it because Damon had been locked up at the time.

Speaking of Damon, he was a part of her day-to-day life now, and he said that Stefan was having a brood fest over Elena since she wasn't with him. Rebecca felt sorry for both Stefan and Elena even though they weren't her favorite people at the moment. Stefan hadn't wanted Elena to find out about him being a vampire - though to be honest, if he'd planned on staying here with her, he would've had to tell her sometime; she was just being realistic - there was no way he would've been able to keep his secret for much longer. And then there was Elena. Rebecca understood that it scared her, what Stefan was. It was a normal reaction that Rebecca herself didn't seem to have.

Damon seemed to be enjoying the fact that Stefan was miserable. Or more to the point . . . Stefan was miserable and Damon wasn't. It was usually the other way around, and Rebecca noticed that Damon liked that the tables had turned. It was childish and petty, but she could see where he was coming from too.

Damon was at her house for dinner. He had even shown up early to help her and her aunt with the cooking - he wanted to make a good impression, of course.

Rebecca had told him he didn't have to, that her aunt liked him well enough already, but other than that Rebecca didn't say anything against it. She didn't mind having him there and she knew that at least some part of Damon wanted her family to accept him and trust him. He wouldn't try so hard if he didn't.

So they'd had dinner and dessert, and now her dad had dragged out a few home videos, which made Rebecca cringe. God, she hadn't watched these in so long she couldn't even remember what was on them. Hopefully nothing embarrassing. And really, couldn't Damon protest? Couldn't he say no? He couldn't possibly be interested in this.

Her mom had managed to get her first few steps on film, and Rebecca laughed when she saw her baby self fall on her diapered butt and get back up instead of sitting there crying about it.

Speaking of walking . . . Chelsea should've been about ready to start, herself. Rebecca hoped she'd get to see it. A couple months ago she got to see everything Chelsea did, and now . . . Rebecca was mostly absent from her life, and she kind of hated herself for it.

"You were the first to walk," her aunt said, "out of you, Elena, and Bonnie."

Damon was captivated. Between baby-Rebecca and his Rebecca, he was very entertained. He liked that Rebecca could laugh at herself; it was a good quality to possess.

"Elena was the first to get into stuff - more accidents than you can imagine. Bonnie was the first to speak unless you count Caroline."

As Damon watched the Rebecca on the film he realized she hadn't changed much. Even when she'd been a baby she'd been a determined person. She'd tried and tried to walk until she'd gotten it right. She was still like that now. She was willing to try and work with the people around her until everything was as close to right as it could get.

He also saw that she'd had a small temper when she'd been younger but that she'd grown out of it for the most part. Sure, she had her outbursts, but . . . she had it under control now.

She'd grown into a trusting, affectionate person that he . . . loved. It was hard for him to think that word because he knew that admitting it to himself was only one step away from admitting it to _her_. And that - his love - was a vulnerability, a weakness, and he hated feeling weak. If he let himself feel it, his world would start and end with her. It was a very strong hold she had over him and that was another weakness because what if she decided to use it against him?

She was . . .

_Not a manipulative little bitch_, he reminded himself.

Damon had never told Rebecca and probably never would - she might think it was creepy or weird - but he'd checked up on her from time to time in the history she'd created. At least once a year. He'd had to force himself not to stay in Mystic Falls indefinitely since 1992, the year she'd been born. He hadn't wanted to risk her seeing him and changing her feelings for him at all.

And thinking about her changing history was confusing so he didn't even try to understand everything about it; it gave him a metaphorical headache.

* * *

A day after the home video fest, Damon called to invite Rebecca over to the boardinghouse, mostly because he needed her to do something for him. He'd promised to supply the Council with vervain, and seeing as to how he himself couldn't touch it . . . she was the one he'd called to for help.

Zach had been growing it for years and he'd been the one to give it to Stefan to use against Damon. It was probably one of the reasons Damon had killed him. The vervain was being kept in the cellar/dungeon room and was being grown under artificial lights.

"So why're you doing this?" she asked as she began clipping the purple plants and separating them into separate piles.

"To throw suspicion the other way, of course," Damon answered, smirking. "Besides, it's my mess; I told you I'd take care of it."

Rebecca remembered telling Stefan once when he'd been attacking someone that since he'd done it he'd have to clean it up. She wondered if that was why Damon was doing this.

"Right." Rebecca sighed. "Well, I'll help you keep growing it if you want me to. I don't want to have to worry about them suddenly finding out about you and Stefan."

"You're gonna spoil me," Damon teased.

She looked at him, playful amusement in her eyes. "I can stop."

"No, no. I enjoy it. Continue."

"Yeah."

Rebecca had yet to tell Damon about her conversation with Bonnie and Grams. Truth be told . . . she was kind of scared to. She didn't want to overwhelm him with too much all at once.

"Damon, if I tell you something, do you promise not to freak out?"

Damon looked mock-offended. "I do not freak out."

"Mm-hm. Well, it's about us." She saw the flash of vulnerability that he hid a second later, but it made her quick to reassure him. "It's nothing bad, but Grams told me something about our . . . bond, for lack of a better word, and I think it's only fair for you to know everything I do about it."

Damon looked cautious for another second but again he hid it well.

"Okay, do you remember that time I ran into you at the Grill, and when we touched we felt a spark? I know you felt it too because you jerked your hand away."

Damon did remember it, but he had tried not to over-analyze it. He hadn't wanted to make something out of nothing, but now he knew it actually hadn't been nothing.

"Grams said when we met . . . I touched something inside of you, some small piece of what was left of your humanity. We connected somehow. She said it was rare but not unheard of."

Damon watched as Rebecca continued to carefully clip the purple herb. He'd been a little surprised she'd accepted his request so easily - it was the first time he'd actually asked her for help instead of her just giving it. And he wasn't used to things being so easy. He'd grown used to things only being easy when he was compelling someone to do something for him. With her it was different; no compulsion was necessary.

"And then I thought that it made sense in a weird way because I knew when Stefan had locked you up. I didn't know where you were or what was wrong, but I knew you were in trouble. I was asleep, having nightmares, and when I woke up I felt like my heart was being ripped out or being repeatedly stabbed - whatever. Point is it hurt."

And _he_ had known Rebecca was in trouble that night outside the club. It had affected him differently than it had her - he hadn't hurt; he'd just felt empty, like he had no reason to go on anymore. It was what he imagined he would feel if anything actually happened to take her away from him. He'd felt it before in 1864 when she'd been brought back to her time period - he didn't think she'd ever be able to appreciate what that meant because she would never have to go through that with him, or for him.

"Have you heard of something like this before?" she asked.

"Not exactly like it, but close to it. A blood bond between a vampire and a human. It's one of the many ways a vampire can control a human. But from what Shelia said . . . this happened before I fed from you."

"Oh, okay. Well . . . Grams said that our connection is strong, like . . . make us or break us strong. And I needed you to know that before we go any deeper. You deserve to know exactly what you're getting into."

This was the part she was sure Damon would run away from. She had the ability to hurt him, the ability to break him, and she could do it without ever meaning to. She knew she would never intentionally hurt him - she didn't want to hurt anybody - but she also knew that he was slowly letting her in, letting her see him, _know_ him, and that could be disastrous for him. He was letting her touch a part of him that hadn't been touched in nearly a century and a half. He was giving her the chance to hurt him or heal him, to love him or leave him.

Damon saw all the emotions flicker over her face and wondered what she was worried about; he was here, wasn't he?

"Doesn't change anything, Becca."

She smiled softly and continued clipping the vervain and tying the sprigs together. Damon was relieved, though, that she seemed to know how important this was to him, and how nerve-wracking. It was still hard for him to be open; when he was with her he had to constantly remind himself that Rebecca wasn't like other people. She had never done anything to deserve his distrust.

* * *

The next day, since Rebecca was supposed to be studying with Jeremy, Damon had to find another way of entertaining himself. He knew that Stefan, Elena, Jeremy, and Matt had to talk to the sheriff about Vicki - she'd been _missing_ for more than twenty-four hours, so the missing person's report was on record now.

Rebecca was going to meet Jeremy at his house after they were done getting interrogated.

As soon as Damon walked into the boardinghouse he knew he wasn't alone. He heard breathing and an unfamiliar heartbeat. He followed it to Stefan's room and saw Lexi, a vampire he only vaguely knew, sleeping peacefully in Stefan's bed. Her long blond hair was pulled into a braid and was flowing down the side of her body.

Damon smirked and went to lay beside her; he had found his source of entertainment for the day. He made sure he jostled her enough to wake her up, and then when he saw movement he went still, waiting for her to see him.

He saw irritation flash in her eyes and he smirked once again.

"Boo," he whispered.

"Ugh!" she sat up and pointedly looked at anything that wasn't him.

"Hello, Lexi. What an unexpected surprise."

"Unexpected surprise?" Lexi scoffed. "I think the wrong brother went back to high school."

"How long are you here for?"

"Just through Stefan's b-day."

Stefan's birthday? Stefan was not the celebrating his birthday type. Probably because he was technically dead.

"Aw, you mean you didn't come all this way just to see me?"

"That's it, Damon. After a century I finally realized death means nothing without you." She leaned closer and tapped his chin with her finger. "Do me."

Lexi rolled her eyes and sat back up, away from him. Damon found he was enjoying their little spat and loved that he could get a rise out of her. Actually, he loved getting a rise out of _everybody._

"Oh, why're you so mean to me?"

"Uh, have you met you? You're not a nice person."

"Well, because I'm a vampire," Damon said. Seeing as to how _Lexi_ was a vampire, she should understand that, yeah?

"But you're only the bad parts."

"So teach me to be good," Damon teased, leaning towards her like he was going to kiss her.

Apparently he took his playing a little too far because he suddenly found himself being held to the bed, her hand at his throat. If he'd actually needed oxygen, he'd have been in trouble. As it was, it was merely uncomfortable.

"I'm older and that means stronger," she warned. "Don't ruin my time with Stefan. Because I'll hurt you, and you know I can do it."

"Yeah."

Damon knew that Lexi meant business and he watched as Lexi let go and walked away. They'd been having such a nice conversation and then she'd had to go and ruin it. And then . . . inspiration it. The Council needed a vampire to blame for the three partiers he'd killed, and _Lexi _was a vampire, so . . . problem solved.

* * *

At the Gilbert residence Rebecca was at the kitchen table with Jeremy. He was doing some English thing; she had to study math because that was her first test. She dreaded it because sometimes her mind would just go blank and she wouldn't be able to remember the equations or the formulas.

Chelsea was with her; now that Rebecca hadn't been able to be with her all the time she just spent as much time with her baby sister as she could.

Elena and Jenna were in the living room sulking or moping or whatever. They were talking about Logan and Stefan. Jenna thought Logan had dumped her - though he was really dead - and Elena was . . . brooding about her decision not to be with Stefan. Rebecca rolled her eyes at that; why was Elena purposely making herself miserable? If being with Stefan would make her happy then she should just be with Stefan - screw the consequences and screw what everyone else thought.

"Wanna keep it down over there?" Jeremy said, obviously becoming distracted by the chit-chat.

"Why? What are you doing?" Jenna asked.

"Homework. I gotta finish this. I'm way behind, and I have a quiz tomorrow, so . . ."

Rebecca caught Elena's gaze and noticed Elena looked concerned.

"What d'you think? Alien?"

"Some sort of replicate?"

"He can hear you," Jeremy said before getting back to work.

Rebecca shrugged when Elena continued to look on, concerned. She'd warned Elena it would happen, that Jeremy would act completely different since Damon had tampered with his memory.

Rebecca felt a little bad because she hated being on the outs with the people she cared about, but she wasn't going to give in on this one. Until Elena gave, Rebecca wouldn't either.

* * *

Meanwhile, Damon had gone to the police station to give the vervain to the sheriff. Rebecca had boxed it for him and he only had one of the few he had. The receptionist told the sheriff he was there and he was now seated in her office in front of her desk.

"I understand from Mrs. Lockwood that you're uncle's out of town."

"Yes, he is. Um . . . but I spoke to Zach, and he filled me in and asked if I could bring _this_ to you."

He handed her the box and she opened it.

"Vervain." She picked up on of the bundles and nodded at him.

"It's all we have at the moment. I hope it's enough."

He hated this, standing around like a Good Samaritan, but he needed to get the Council off the trail of vampires, so here he stood.

"It's a small circle," the sheriff said. "Founding families, a few city officials."

"And your deputies, of course, right?" he asked, taking a seat. While he was here he might as well find out all the information he could. It never hurt to be well-informed. "Are we any closer?"

Liz shook her head and Damon was struck by how tired this woman was. It must be exhausting to go on a vampire hunt and not come up with anything.

"I think our facts are wrong. We've always believed that vampires can only come out in the dark. What if that's changed?"

"Is that even possible?" He really hoped she didn't know about the lapis lazuli because a dead or missing sheriff would not be a good thing for him to add to the list of things he needed to cover up.

"We've exhausted ever other option. We have to consider that the vampire might be walking around during the day . . . right in front of us."

_Right in front of you_, Damon thought wryly.

"Hm. So what's the next step?"

"We're now looking at anyone new to town since the deaths began. Should turn up a suspect or two."

"And I, of course, will do anything I can to help," he said, the perfect tone of complete innocence in his voice.

In his mind he was already working out a plan. One that involved Lexi dying - she really shouldn't have threatened him - and himself walking away scot-free.

* * *

Back at Elena's house, Elena had called Bonnie and so Elena, Rebecca, and Bonnie were having a sort of girl's night. Rebecca had been a little reluctant because she didn't want to be around Elena at all if all they were going to do was argue. Elena had been willing to let it go for the night, so there they were.

Problem was . . . All Elena wanted to do was talk about Stefan's and her break up.

"I'm sorry," Bonnie said. "I know I've been kind of MIA when you need me the most. I suck."

"You wanna make it up to me? Get my mind off of it," Elena said.

Bonnie smiled widely and looked at Rebecca mischievously before turning back to Elena. "Just remember you asked for it."

Bonnie went and closed the bedroom door and the bathroom door that joined Elena's and Jeremy's bedrooms. Then she grabbed a pair of scissors and a pillow. Within seconds the feathers from the pillow were all over the bed.

Chelsea grabbed a handful and played with them; she cooed and Rebecca smiled.

"Hey!" Elena complained when she realized exactly what Bonnie had done.

"Be patient."

"O . . . kay."

"I need to swear you to secrecy," Bonnie said.

"It's kind of a bad week for that kind of stuff," Elena said.

Rebecca was tempted to tell Elena it shouldn't be too hard because all they did was keep secrets; if they kept it up they could turn it into a science.

"No, swear, because I'm not supposed to be showing you this."

"Okay, I swear."

"Okay. There's no windows open, right?" Both were closed. "There's no fan, no air conditioning."

"None. What're you doing?"

"Grams just showed me this. You're gonna love it."

Bonnie held her hand over the feathers and began floating one, guiding it with her finger. Rebecca smiled because Bonnie was learning how to control her magic. And Chelsea was fascinated; she grabbed for it and Bonnie brought it out of her reach just to bring it back again.

"Bonnie, what's going on?" Elena asked.

Bonnie didn't answer; she just began adding more feathers to the one already in the air. Elena began smiling, though Rebecca could see the shock there still.

"It's true, Elena. Everything my Grams told me," Bonnie said. "It's impossible, but it's true. I'm a witch."

By that time Elena was crawling around in the middle of the feathers, and Rebecca was swatting them away from her face - she had a feeling Bonnie was doing that on purpose.

"I believe you," Elena said.

"Of course you do," Rebecca said. How could she not; the evidence was in the air.

The three girls laughed and things were okay for a while. Rebecca, Elena, and Bonnie were the Terrific Trio again.

"It's weird, huh? After all this time joking about being psychic . . . I really am a witch. You don't think I'm a freak now, do you?"

"You already know I don't," Rebecca replied.

"I don't think you're a freak," Elena said. "I don't understand, though. If your Grams told you to keep all this a secret, why did you tell me?"

"You're one of my best friends. I can't keep secrets from you."

Elena looked away guiltily and Rebecca took pity on her.

"She knows, Elena. We can all be upfront with each other again. I told her a few days ago. I already knew about her witch stuff, so I figured she deserved to know the rest."

"Becca warned me it was bad but I wanted to know. I didn't like being kept out of the loop, so I asked her to tell me."

"Are you . . . okay?" Elena asked carefully.

"Um . . . freaking out a little. But, yeah, I'm okay. Grams is helping a lot." Bonnie shrugged.

Rebecca smiled and picked up a feather from the pillow. "So, can you . . . conjure up another pillow since you destroyed this one?"

"Ugh! Shut up!" Bonnie magicked about fifty feathers into Rebecca's face; Chelsea thought that was hilarious if the giggle was anything to go by. "It doesn't work that way."

Rebecca laughed a little and threw some of the white fluff at Bonnie in return.

"Okay, so . . . for the remainder of the night how about we don't talk about all the not normal stuff?" Rebecca suggested. "We can have a pig out and movie fest. no horror."

Both Elena and Bonnie seemed to agree with that arrangement.

* * *

The next morning Rebecca showered and then took off to the boardinghouse - just because Elena didn't want to have to deal with vampires didn't mean Rebecca had a problem with it. She got there just as Damon was pulling his Camaro into the garage.

She'd brought Chelsea with her because she'd left from Elena's and Chelsea had been with her then. It made more sense than dropping her off at home beforehand. Especially with how weird her aunt and her dad had been acting - seriously, what was up with that?

Damon escorted her inside but she stopped at the entrance - another vampire was here and it wasn't Stefan. Maybe she shouldn't have brought Chelsea.

Damon knew why she had stopped so he said, "It's just Stefan's friend. Come on. Uh, she'd old; she's probably met a few of your kind."

"Hm." She looked at him and then at Chelsea. "Is it okay for her?"

"She'll be safe."

Rebecca and Damon went into the living room and she saw Stefan standing at one end of the room and a beautiful blond girl sitting in a red chair on the other end drinking from a blood bag.

"So, what're we doing tonight?" the girl said.

"Funny you should ask," Damon replied.

"Well, I wasn't asking you."

"There's a party at the Grill, you'll love it. Banquettes, tacky wait staff, all of Stefan's friends."

"Yeah, I don't want a birthday party," Stefan said.

Rebecca raised her eyebrow. How old would he be? She quickly did the math in her head. 162. She imagined a birthday cake with 162 candles on top, and then she imagined it collapsing from the weight.

"It's not for you. It's a party party. No one's going to know it's your birthday. Caroline's throwing it."

"Damon, stay away from Caroline," Stefan said, disapproval coloring his voice.

"We're friends, it's cool," Damon said, though Rebecca thought he had a pretty weird definition of friendship seeing as to how he didn't really care about Caroline at all. "It's important for the town to see us out and about like normal folk. We need to blend."

Damon looked at the blood bag the blond girl was drinking from and turned his nose up at it. "Ugh. I prefer mine at 98.6."

Rebecca rolled her eyes and stepped forward, closer to the blond girl. "Hi, I'm Rebecca. I just thought I'd introduce myself since no one else was polite enough to do it for me."

She looked pointedly at Stefan and Damon. Damon just shrugged but Stefan actually had the dignity to look slightly ashamed.

"Sorry, Rebecca. This is Lexi. Lexi, Rebecca."

Lexi smiled and nodded Rebecca's way. "Forgive them. They're only men. They haven't changed much since the dawn of time."

Rebecca grinned. "Probably not. They like to sleep, eat, and have sex. Maybe not in that order."

"Uh, on behalf of my gender, hey!" Damon groaned.

"Yes, let's not jump to conclusions," Stefan said, siding with his brother for once.

"She didn't jump," Lexi defended. "She took a tiny step and there conclusions were."

Rebecca liked Lexi. She'd only been in Lexi's presence for all of five minutes but Rebecca knew they'd be good friends if Lexi stuck around long enough.

Damon, who was watching this friendship in the making, decided he should distract Rebecca from getting any closer to Lexi. Rebecca would already be torn up over the fact that someone she knew - someone else she knew - had to die; Damon didn't want her to feel any more pain than was strictly necessary.

He felt a small jolt of guilt at the thought of killing one of Stefan's friends but he quickly killed that thought with the fact that Stefan deserved every ounce of misery he got.

* * *

Before Rebecca even got upstairs her phone vibrated and she got a text from Caroline about the party, asking her to come. Rebecca couldn't; she still had to study for her stupid math test.

"So you compelled her to throw this party, huh?"

"Um . . . no. I compelled her to shut up and then I -" Damon cut himself off. "Yes - and she's not any more ditzy than she already was."

She snickered a few times and shook her head. "As long as she doesn't suspect anything."

"She'll think she thought of it. So, are you going?"

"I can't. I have to go to John Tyler to take my test tomorrow so I'm studying tonight. I can't believe they're making me drive an hour-and-a-half just to take a test."

"Do you need a ride?"

"Um . . . I already have one, but if you're not busy . . . I wouldn't be opposed to you taking me instead. I'm gonna be up there a while, though, you might get bored."

"I'm sure I can find something to do."

"Okay. If you want." Rebecca shrugged.

Damon frowned a little and it caught her off guard. "Why do you always do that?"

"Do what?"

"_If you want_. Or in my case, if I want. Do you not have an opinion at all?"

"Uh . . ."

Apparently the fact that she was agreeable was upsetting to him. Which was just weird; things were supposed to be good when they went smoothly.

"If I felt strongly against something I would tell you," she said. "But I happen to be okay with you taking me there tomorrow. Also, I figured you wouldn't have asked if you wanted me to disagree."

Rebecca shook her head, trying to understand what exactly Damon wanted her to do. Did he _want_ to argue?

"Anyway, I came over today because I wanted to see you since I didn't get to yesterday. I -" She broke off, not wanting to bore him with her teenage small talk.

"You what?"

"Um . . . I kind of worked things out with Elena. We've agreed to disagree, and we've moved on."

"Oh, _you've_ moved on. She, however, will go back to not talking to you the next time you do something she doesn't agree with."

"That's . . . not true." She sounded unsure to her own ears, so she knew Damon had heard it.

"Isn't it?" he asked, though it was more of a statement really. "It wasn't you who did anything wrong, yet she treated you like a pariah. That's not much of a friendship if you ask me."

Rebecca tried to find something to say in Elena's defense but she couldn't. She couldn't because it was true. Elena treated her differently because of the Slayer thing and she would probably always treat her differently.

"You're just trying to stir up trouble," she accused.

"Well, is there trouble to be stirred up?"

She glared at him only semi-playfully. What was he doing? "Stop it. You're trying to confuse me. i know that Elena and I don't see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, but we've been friends our whole lives. I can't just . . . walk away from that."

Since Damon was obviously in a weird mood Rebecca decided not to stay too long. She said good-bye to all three vampires and left to go home. She would talk to Damon later, when he was in a less confusing mood, or when he decided to explain what his mood had been about.

* * *

Okay, so here's the story. I got my computer to work, and it worked for about a week. Yup - I'm about to give up on it. Pull the plug and buy a new one. I've got to. Things keep disappearing from the thing. Files and such that I need for the computer to work. I don't know how they disappear on their own but they do. Anyway, my cousin is living with me for now and she has a laptop so I'll still be able to update at least once a week, I think. Just letting you know that if I don't update for a while, that would be why. I'm not sure how long she's going to be living with me, but as long as she does I will have a working computer, so . . . yeah.

Hope you enjoyed. Leave a review please!


	31. Chapter 26

Okay, so the last chapter was a filler chapter, pretty much, and the action happens in this one.

Previously on Vampire Diaries . . . Damon had compelled Caroline to set up a party, it's Stefan's birthday, and Lexi, his friend had come to celebrate it with him.

Chapter Twenty-Six

The party Damon had compelled Caroline to throw was a hit. A lot of people came and Caroline was drunk within the first thirty minutes of it. Damon may or may not have had something to do with that; he wasn't going to take complete credit for it. Lexi had come with Stefan and the blond vampire had compelled the bartender not to ask for ID's. That was the major reason Caroline was able to get alcohol that night.

Lexi and Stefan had been playing pool for most of the evening, and Damon had been eavesdropping. Stefan had been talking about the recent Vicki incident and the Logan-trying-to-kill-him thing.

"I don't know, okay. If some freak shot at me with wooden bullets, I'd bail in under sixty. And why is a news reporter hunting vampires?" Lexi said.

"I don't know," Stefan answered. "I don't know who knows about us. That guy did. There could be others. And do me a favor. While you're here please be careful."

"Why stay? I'm headed to New York for the weekend. Bon Jovi, in The Garden. "Wanted Dead or Alive" It's our theme song. It'll be a blast."

"Hey, do you think he would actually remember us? That was a pretty crazy weekend, huh?"

"We can _make _him remember us," Lexi said. "Come on. Let's go. I mean, what's keeping you here?"

"I told you. Her name is Elena."

"Well, let's hope she's better than the last girl you got all sprung over."

"You didn't even know Katherine," Stefan said, in a way that was suspiciously close to being defensive of the psychotic vampire that had ruined his and Damon's lives.

Lexi laughed softly. "Because if I did I'd kick her ass, the little bitch."

"Hey, Lexi . . . I'm really glad that you came here," Stefan said.

"Well, it's not every day that a guy turns 162 years old," Lexi answered. "Happy birthday."

Damon tuned them out then and ordered a bourbon at the bar.

* * *

Damon began eavesdropping again when Elena showed up because Lexi almost had a conniption fit when she saw that Elena was pretty much Katherine's doppelganger. Lexi hadn't showed it with Elena, but when she'd gotten Stefan alone the blond had given Stefan hell.

"Are you out of your freaking mind?"

"What are you talking about?" Stefan asked.

"I just met _Elena_. She looks exactly like your old girlfriend. You have some serious explaining to do."

Damon was always ready to hear Stefan getting a lecture, so he didn't feel bad for listening in. Besides, he had supersonic hearing for a reason. Granted, it could be put to better use, but who really cared anyway?

"You have some serious emotional damage," Lexi said.

Stefan began to explain that it wasn't what it seemed like - because, yes, Stefan knew what it looked like, but he swore it wasn't. Lexi and Stefan had been friends for almost a century and a half - Lexi had shown up in Mystic Falls shortly after Rebecca had been sent back home to her time period - and Lexi knew about Katherine and all that she had done to Stefan and Damon, so the only part that needed to be explained was why Stefan was with Elena.

"She's not Katherine."

"Then they're related because they could be twins."

"I don't know," Stefan said.

"You don't know? You didn't find out?"

"No, maybe I don't wanna know. I have - I have no desire to tie Elena to Katherine. Okay, yes, the resemblance is what drew me in, but that's it. Katherine and Elena may look the same on the outside . . . but on the inside they are completely different."

"Oh, so Elena's not a raging bitch then, huh?"

"No," Stefan said quietly. "No, Elena is . . . Elena is warm and she's - she's kind. And she's caring and she's selfless. And it's real. And, honestly, when I'm around her, I . . . I completely forget what I am."

"Oh, my God. You're in love with her."

"Yeah. Yeah, I am," Stefan answered. Damon didn't have to look to know that his brother was probably grinning like an idiot. Damon could relate; he felt the same way when he thought about Rebecca.

"Wow," Lexi said.

Damon, bored now, walked out of the Grill. He had to find a way to pin all the animal attacks - well, his attacks from when he'd been starved - on Lexi, and then Lexi would have to be taken care of - preferably in a way that would make him seem like a shining light in this town. And sometimes . . . fate just steps in and has it's way because as soon as Damon stepped outside, he saw a way to make his plan come to life.

Two people - a couple of teenagers - were making out in the back alleyway of the Grill. One of them was already becoming collateral damage in his mind. The girl was pushed against the wall and the boy was _trying _to convince her to, well . . . what do all teenage boys want? Damon came up behind him and viciously bit into his neck, and the girl began screaming in terror. As soon as Damon looked into her eyes she stopped screaming. He compelled her to wait in the alley until someone found her and called the cops. Then she was supposed to tell the cop who arrived what happened, and that would get the Sheriff to come out here; then the plan could be put into action.

* * *

When Damon went back into the Grill he saw Lexi and Stefan off dancing, and Elena was off by herself looking at the two. There was no jealousy in her face, but she did look a little down. The last Damon had heard about her was that she was still confused and scared about the vampire thing. Damon thought that was ironic because Elena didn't really know what Stefan was capable of. This Stefan was . . . well, not a normal vampire by any means.

"Stefan smiles; alert the media," Damon said, stopping beside her.

"You haven't given him a lot of reasons to be happy lately."

"No, you're right. Poor Stefan. Persecuted throughout eternity by his depraved brother." Damon heard Elena sigh impatiently. "Does it get tiring, being so righteous?"

"It flares up in the presence of psychopaths," Elena said casually and began moving away from him.

"Ouch. Well, consider this psychopath's feelings hurt," Damon said, placing a hand over his heart, feigning pain.

Elena stopped and turned back to him. "What did you do to my brother?"

"I'm gonna need a less vague question," Damon commented.

"When you did what you did to Jeremy's memory of Vicki . . . what else did you do to him?"

Damon moved closer to her so they wouldn't have to talk so loudly - they were in a public place, after all.

"You asked me to take away the memory of fangs and -" Damon let out a fake growl - " - and all the bad stuff. You wanted me to take away his suffering."

"But he's acting different. He seems okay with everything, and a little too okay. He's studying, he's not doing drugs, he's not drinking. Are you sure you didn't do something else?"

"Elena . . . I took away his suffering," Damon said patiently. "Jeremy is a fifteen year old who was acting out because he was in pain. He's not in pain anymore. He doesn't need drugs or alcohol to make him feel better."

Elena let that sink in and then nodded once. "I never thanked you for that, by the way. And I'm . . . sorry for accusing you of killing Vicki when I . . . when I didn't have all the facts. It was wrong of me."

"Hm. Apology accepted," Damon said. "Next time just don't be so judge-y."

Suddenly there was a drink being put in front of him and in front of Elena. Lexi was there.

"Ah, the famous Elena."

"I didn't know that you guys could drink," Elena said.

Had she not paid any attention to what Damon had been doing for the last hour and a half?

"Oh, yeah. It helps curb the cravings," Lexi explained. "But it makes for a lot of lushy vamps."

Elena smiled uncomfortably. "You know, I've never seen Stefan drunk. He always seem so . . ."

"Uptight?" Lexi and Damon said at the same time.

"Yeah," Elena agreed. "But not with you," Elena directed that last bit at the blond vampire.

"Well, that's the benefit of knowing someone for over a hundred years. You can just be yourself."

"Yeah, he can't be himself with me," Elena said.

"Not yet," Lexi said. "The first step was him telling you. The rest comes with time."

"You seem so sure," Elena said.

"The love of my life was human," Lexi explained. "He went through what I imagine you're going through. Denial, anger, et cetera. But at the end of the day . . . love really did conquer all."

"I'm scared," Elena admitted.

Damon was a little surprised that she was admitting that with him standing right there.

"But you're here. Because you're crazy about him. I get it, okay. I mean, what's not to love? Listen, take it from someone who has been around a long time. When it's real, you can't walk away."

Lexi downed her shot and then took Elena's away from her and downed hers too, then the blond vampire went back to Stefan.

* * *

Rebecca was in the middle of studying when she got a call from the sheriff, though technically, it was for her dad, not her. There had been an attack at the Grill - a boy had been killed, and a girl had witnessed it. They had been in a back alley - Rebecca rolled her eyes at the stupidity of humans; even before she knew about vampires she'd known to stay away from alleys.

"Uh, I'm coming with you," she said to her dad. "I, uh . . . Caroline was throwing a party and I wanna make sure nobody else got hurt."

Rebecca's first thought was that the vampire from the other night had been lying and someone had been sent to terrorize her town. Someone knew where she lived and everyone she cared about was in danger because of her.

Rebecca and her father got to the Grill just as two police officers were leading Lexi away from the building; they were following Liz. Lexi suddenly broke free and tossed the two officers off - one hit the side of a car and the other shattered the window of another car. Lexi went after the sheriff, and Liz shot her four times. Rebecca was assuming the bullets were made of wood, but they didn't faze Lexi at all. If it hurt her very much, Lexi ignored it.

Rebecca stepped in front of the blond vampire and tried to make her stop but Lexi tossed her into the side of a brick building. She hit back first but landed on her feet when she hit the ground. Lexi obviously hadn't wanted to hurt _her_; Rebecca hadn't been the one to shoot her.

Damon seemed to appear out of nowhere and Rebecca watched as Lexi was then staked. Lexi mummified and Rebecca looked on in horror. Yes, she'd seen a vampire die before - more than once, actually - but never one that she had actually liked. She had been friendly with Vicki, yes, but she'd actually liked Lexi.

She stood up and walked over to Damon and Liz. She nodded at Damon when he arched an eyebrow at her in question - he wanted to know if she was alright. She was.

"Thank you," the sheriff said to Damon, who was doing an excellent job of acting concerned. "Get it in the car, quickly.

"Yeah."

"Her," Rebecca said instinctively, "get _her _in the car."

Liz looked at her briefly but didn't say anything to correct her. She probably thought it was because Rebecca was so young.

"You're pretty handy with that stake, Damon."

"Just a . . . reflex. Guess the adrenaline kicked in."

"This nightmare is finally over."

"Yeah. Caught a break with that witness. Without her you wouldn't have been able to ID the vampire."

"Very lucky."

Once Lexi was in the car the sheriff thanked Damon again. Damon got this 'aw, shucks' expression on his face, and at any other time Rebecca would've found it funny. But not right now.

Once the sheriff was gone Rebecca shook her head and turned away from Damon, her throat already tightening. She now knew what had happened. She knew Lexi hadn't done this, and now she was dead.

"I won't need you to take me to John Tyler tomorrow, Damon. I'd rather go alone."

Her dad was inside - damage control or something - so she went to wait in the car. Her body hurt with every step but she continued on anyway. She slammed the door harder than necessary but she didn't care. She didn't look at Damon when he appeared at the window.

"What's your problem?"

"You killed her," Rebecca said softly. "And you killed that guy, and you blamed Lexi. Or you did it _so _you could blame her."

Damon looked confused by her accusation but she could tell the confusion was false.

"Stefan drinks animal blood now; Lexi drank from blood bags. There aren't any other vampires in town, so that leaves you. And the way the girl just _happened_ to remember exactly who had killed that guy? It was a little to coincidental to be an actual coincidence."

Damon's eyes went cold in an instant; it was almost like he was shielding himself from her anger. "Yeah, well, she was convenient."

Rebecca's breath caught in her throat. How could he say that? He'd known Lexi and Stefan had been friends. Oh, God, poor Stefan. Had that been why Damon had done this? To bother Stefan?

Rebecca looked at Damon now, her eyes flashing with fury. "Yeah? And what happens when I become convenient? Are you just gonna throw me away too? Maybe you should just try to kill me now and save yourself all the trouble."

Damon's cheek twitched in irritation and he stepped away from the car. He was . . . furious. How dare she talk to him that way? Of course she wasn't _just_ convenient. When had he ever made her feel that way? He'd only asked for her help once - all the other times she'd done it with no provocation of his own. And he'd _needed_ a cover because without one the Council never would've stopped looking, and they would've eventually had to look at the Salvatore's and he would've had to leave. He didn't want that and neither did Rebecca.

"Just go home, Damon. I'll talk to you when I'm ready."

* * *

Once Rebecca's dad had come back to the car she and he both went home. Rebecca had been surprised Damon had left without a fuss. Surprised but glad. She didn't want to argue about this. Damon shouldn't have killed someone just so he could blame another vampire for it, and he shouldn't have picked Lexi to blame.

She didn't like being angry with him; during her whole transitioning-into-Slayerhood, he'd been the only one to make her feel better even before she'd blasted into the past. And she hadn't really _meant_ anything about him trying to kill her - she knew he wouldn't do that to her - but it was a thought that had passed through her mind. _What if_ Damon, at one time, needed to cover his own ass and _she_ was the only one around to make ends meet?

Rebecca went straight to her room because she didn't want to have to lie if her dad asked her what was wrong. She considered locking her window to give Damon the hint that she didn't want to see him right now - just in case he came - but she knew, if he wanted to see her, he'd break the window just to get in.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She needed something to distract herself so she got up, locked the door, and pulled out one of the books Diana had loaned her. She hadn't mentioned any names to Diana, but she had asked for books on vampires - specifically 1864 on up. Rebecca hadn't really found anything on Damon - maybe he'd covered his tracks; it had been easier to cover one's tracks before all the forensics technology came about.

But Stefan, on the other hand, had a colorful past. Every couple of decades or so something would happen and he'd go on a crazy killing spree. Something would set him off and he wouldn't stop for a while. Stefan had taken out an entire village by himself one time in the early 1900s.

From what Rebecca could tell from the history book Stefan hadn't had a reason for snapping, he just had. At least there was usually a method behind Damon's madness, but Stefan had just gone crazy and killed _everybody_. He . . . was considered a ripper in every sense of the word, which mean he literally ripped people apart when he let himself get into a feeding frenzy.

Rebecca shuddered because she remembered what he was like when he'd first turned. Sadistic, never satisfied, and . . . he'd wanted her. Or her blood anyway. Probably just because Damon had her, because Rebecca loved Damon, and Stefan couldn't take the fact that someone would choose Damon over him. It wasn't really his fault, Rebecca didn't think. Stefan had grown used to people picking him over his older brother, and, in turn, Damon was used to always being looked over when it came to them.

Rebecca sighed and closed the book. She didn't want to read anymore; she was almost sorry she had read it at all. She learned things she hadn't wanted to learn.

Rebecca got her phone out and, because she was a helpless pushover, she texted Damon. Or . . . she was going to, but then . . . this intense, stabbing pain came over her. God, she was being torn apart on the inside. Her stomach was killing her. Literally, it felt like she was dying.

She was vaguely aware that she was screaming and that there were bangs coming from her locked bedroom door. Her dad was shouting; her aunt was shouting; Chelsea was wailing, and then there was nothing.

* * *

Damon had been waiting for Stefan in his room. He knew Stefan would want to have words with him about Lexi. What he hadn't expected was for Stefan to react so violently.

"I told you I'd take care of it," Damon said.

Then he found himself thrown against Stefan's dresser. Stefan hit him three times before Damon could get his legs up to kick him away. Stefan landed on the other side of the room, and Damon stood up to face off with his brother.

Damon rushed him but Stefan had been waiting for that, and Damon found himself held against the wall.

"Oh, come on, I did this for you, to get the town off our trail."

"No, you never do anything for anyone but yourself," Stefan said, practically seething.

Before Damon saw it coming Stefan had shoved a stake right in the middle of his gut. It hurt so much Damon couldn't scream. But . . . he was still living, so . . .

"You missed," he said.

"No. I didn't. You saved my life and I'm sparing yours. Now we're even."

When Stefan let him go Damon fell to the floor and tried to breathe through the pain. The stake was shoved in deep and if he'd been human he probably would've passed out from the pain. It hurt worse, though, because he was a vampire. Humans would never know true pain. Pain was magnified for him, for every vampire that existed.

Vampire . . . pain . . . humans . . . _Rebecca_. She could feel when he was in trouble, so would she have felt this?

Would it have come across as a physical thing like it had when he'd been starving? Would she had felt it and _just_ felt it or would she have . . . actually been stabbed?

Damon grabbed the end of the stake and mentally prepped himself for the pain that was going to come, and then he pulled hard enough to pull the sharp piece of wood out. He clenched his jaw so he wouldn't make noise and he felt himself heal slowly. He wouldn't have healed as easily if he hadn't fed earlier.

Now . . . now he had to check on Rebecca. He had to know if she was okay, and they really needed to learn what this bond between them entailed. He needed to know her limits and the limits that the bond held.

* * *

Rebecca slowly came back to herself and the first thing she realized was she wasn't in pain anymore. She wasn't in pain because Damon wasn't in pain anymore. She'd seen what had happened. She'd seen that . . . Stefan had staked Damon; she couldn't find it in herself to be mad at Stefan even though he'd unwittingly caused her pain. Damon had deserved that. Lexi had been Stefan's friend and Damon had known that and he'd still killed her.

In a part of Rebecca's mind that was completely owned by Damon, she understood why he'd done it. but she still didn't agree with it. It was not right to blame other people for something that wasn't their fault.

Still, she could forgive him as long as he didn't do it again.

She realized that someone was talking to her, and when she came fully back to the present she realized it was her dad. He was wondering if she was okay. And for the life of her, she didn't know what she should say. She couldn't tell him the truth; her dad would go after Damon and end up dead.

"Why were you screaming?"

"My stomach was hurting."

Rebecca sat up slowly and took in the scene around her. She was still in her room; she obviously hadn't been out that long. Her door was broken in - she'd have to get that fixed. Her dad was looking at her with concern, something she couldn't remember the last time he'd done. Her aunt was red-faced and looked like she'd forgotten how to breathe. Chelsea was still wailing because Rebecca had been screaming. She'd probably frightened the girl.

"I'm okay," she said to her aunt so she wouldn't pass out from oxygen deprivation. "Give Chelsea to me, I'm okay, she'll stop crying."

Tina listened automatically, like she was on cruise control, and Chelsea was in Rebecca's arms. The girl didn't stop crying instantly but she did quiet down.

"Bec." The word spilled out of the little girl's mouth and Rebecca froze. Chelsea had tried to say her name!

Rebecca smiled and she held the girl tighter. "Say it again!"

"Bec," Chelsea obeyed.

Rebecca almost immediately forgot about what had happened because _her sister was talking_ Her dad didn't forget, though, and he wanted to talk to her about it. He made a valid point, which was that she'd been screaming like someone was trying to kill her, and she could tell he was really worried about her.

Rebecca, however, wanted to see if Chelsea could say anything else. She tried words out and Chelsea repeated them back to her the best she could.

Then Rebecca saw a problem. She wouldn't be able to talk freely around her sister anymore. Chelsea could hear and repeat things that shouldn't be repeated, ever. Then, after Chelsea was asleep, Rebecca thought of another problem. What had happened to Damon, she had felt it. It was . . . dangerous - she thought that must have been what Sheila had meant when she'd told her that. What if that happened when she was out in public? Or when she was fighting? It could get her killed.

She couldn't . . . she couldn't let Damon know about this. She didn't know what he'd do, but it wouldn't end well if he knew. He might . . . he might force her to drink his blood all the time, just in case something like this happened again. He might, in a fit of rage or worry, make the same mistake Stefan had made with Damon - force that decision on her. And she didn't want that, didn't want that bad blood between them.

No pun intended.

* * *

The next day, after Rebecca had come back from taking her math test, she arrived at home to see Damon's electric blue Camaro in the driveway. She knew that both her dad and her aunt were home and she wondered what Damon wanted with them. Rebecca wasn't in the mood for any games so hopefully he wasn't in one of his moods.

When she walked in the house she was happy to see that her dad, her aunt, and Damon were in high spirits, though she couldn't tell if Damon was just pretending or not. She knew she had probably hurt him last night when she'd basically accused him of using her.

"Hey, guys, I'm back." She threw herself on the couch beside Damon, who she noticed didn't look mad or unreasonable.

"How did you do?" Tina asked.

"Well enough to pass, I'm sure. I have to take science next week."

"Damon's been waiting for you. He asked if he could take you somewhere." Her aunt smiled. "I told him it was up to you."

"Take me where?" Rebecca asked, looking at Damon.

"It's a surprise," he answered, smirking. She noticed that his eyes didn't hold their usual gleam, so he was only pretending to be happy and she wanted to know why.

"Fine. I'll, uh . . . Do I need to change?" She had on a long sleeved shirt and jeans.

"No, you're good."

Damon stood up and offered her his hand, which she grabbed without hesitation. She wasn't afraid of him or mad at him - anymore - and rejecting him now would cause him further pain. Though she shouldn't be worried about that because he had been in the wrong here, not her._  
_

Rebecca got a quick 'bye' from Chelsea and she smiled again at her baby sister's voice.

Once they were in Damon's car she turned to him and immediately asked what was wrong.

"Why do you think there's something wrong?" he asked.

"I'm not telling you that. Then you'll learn to hide it and I don't want that."

"Hm. So . . . how long are you going to stay mad at me for killing Lexi?" he asked bluntly.

She glared at him, her anger from last night returning. She wasn't mad at him for killing Lexi - though that was a problem in and of itself. She was mad because he'd used someone else to cover his own ass. And he'd done it so . . . easily. It was like it didn't matter at all that someone innocent - mostly - had paid for his crimes.

"That depends. How long are you going to pretend what you did wasn't wrong?"

"I never said it wasn't wrong," Damon pointed out.

"You knew it was wrong and yet you did it anyway?" Damon didn't answer, so she took that as a yes. "Damon, that . . . that makes me feel really bad because I'm _letting _you do these things. And you know I'm going to keep letting you do these things because I care about you, and that's not fair. That's taking advantage of my feelings and it's wrong. So you should stop doing the things I let you do."

"Stop doing the things you let me do?" Damon was now fighting back a grin at her convoluted way of expressing herself.

"You know what I mean! The three kids you killed? I could've given you hell for that, but I didn't because I knew you did it because you were starving. Hell, you almost killed _me_ because you were starving and I didn't complain at all! I came back the next day to see if _you_ were okay when I was the one who'd had my neck ripped open! And then Logan; I didn't say anything about him either because I knew he'd never keep his mouth shut. He would've killed you and Stefan. But Lexi? She didn't deserve to die for something _you_ did."

Rebecca took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds and then let it out slowly, trying to let all the anger flow away.

"There, I'm done. You know how I feel now and what you do with it is up to you. Now, where are we going?"

"Just somewhere I used to go when the world looked a little bleak. I'd like to . . . share it with you."

"But you won't tell me where we're going?"

"No."

"Okay." Rebecca felt at least a little better since she'd yelled at him, and her body loosened up a little. "I really am sorry for saying what I said. I know I'm not just a convenience to you. You wouldn't have waited so long if that were the case."

"Apology accepted."

Rebecca looked at him and noticed that he looked like he felt better now, too. Even though Damon hadn't said anything he'd probably been worried about how mad she'd been at him. he'd been worried about whether or not she'd forgive him.

"You did something wrong, Damon, and it won't be the last time. I know. But trust me . . . I don't turn my back on my friends and I don't give up on them either. It would take a lot more than that to get rid of me. But you still shouldn't take advantage of that."

"I wasn't . . . consciously taking advantage of you. All I knew was that I needed to find someone to blame because I didn't want to have to leave, okay? And they would've eventually looked my way once they'd exhausted all other options. The sheriff already suspects vampires can get around during the day."

"Hm."

That didn't bode well for Damon or Stefan. It was a headache waiting to happen, so she decided to focus on something else. When the car stopped she looked around and realized where they were.

"The falls?"

Damon smirked, gleam back in his blue eyes now. "Have you ever been to the top?"

Rebecca grinned, a thrill of excitement going through her; she was always up for something new. "No."

"Well, then -" within two seconds he was outside opening her door "- come on."

She got out and they began walking side by side toward the woods.

* * *

Damon didn't say anything for a while. He hadn't admitted it out loud but he had had this weight on his chest ever since he'd seen how mad Rebecca had been the night before. He really had taken for granted that she would just forgive him for this misdeed like she had all his other ones. So he'd let her vent and then had let out a silent breath of relief when she _had_ forgiven him.

Damon made the decision then, partly because of the Council and partly because of Rebecca, to use blood bags for his food source, and, excluding snapping and necessity, he'd try not to kill anyone. If no one died the Council wouldn't think anymore vampires were in town and he wouldn't need to cover his tracks anymore. If no one died Rebecca wouldn't have to feel bad about letting him get away with stuff. She wouldn't have any reason to push him away or be angry with him.

"It's really pretty here," Rebecca said as they continued walking along.

They hadn't even made it to the pathway to the top yet. They were still in the woods - the trees were bare and brown leaves were crunching under their feet. The air was cool and crisp but refreshing, and Rebecca was bundled up enough not to catch a cold so all was good. They sky was a clear blue and the sun was shining through the branches.

They finally came to a rocky upward path and Damon grabbed Rebecca's elbow as they started to climb so she wouldn't fall.

"You said you used to come here. You don't anymore?"

"Last time was in the 1950s," he admitted. "It hasn't changed much. I know Stefan used to come here too. Not sure if he still does."

Damon had come here when he'd been human, too. It was one of the only things about Mystic Falls that hadn't changed. The falls were peaceful to him - he didn't know why, they just were. Aside from the rushing water and the animals scurrying about, it was usually quiet. Sometimes he liked the quiet.

"Damon, can I ask you something and you not make jokes about it?"

As always his response was, "Depends on what you ask."

Rebecca smiled a little but rolled her eyes too. "Okay then. Did you . . . uh . . . Well, my dad's been acting really strange and I was wondering if maybe you'd compelled him to be nicer or something."

"Would it make you angry if I had?"

Rebecca shrugged. "No. I mean, I like that he's agreeable. It's easier that way. So if you had, I would understand."

"Well . . . a little. Maybe."

"Maybe?"

Damon hadn't told Rebecca about it and he didn't think Stefan knew about it either. Before Damon had supplied the Council with vervain he'd compelled both Robert and Tina. It was nothing major - basically he didn't want them to suspect that Rebecca sometimes had Damon in the room with her at night. Tina didn't need much compelling - she liked him anyway - but Robert . . . well . . . Damon compelled him to treat Rebecca better and to not give her such a hard time. It wasn't her fault that she had all this extra responsibility now. He'd told Robert to treat Rebecca and Chelsea like his daughters. He should take care of them even if he didn't really care about them.

Damon explained all of it and Rebecca nodded. "I knew it couldn't be real. People don't just change over night. But it is easier." She sighed. "Okay. Another question. After me, was there anyone else?"

"Anyone else?"

"Yeah. That you got close to?"

"You wanna talk about this now? Really?"

"Well, we don't have to if you don't want to. It's just a question."

"A loaded question," Damon muttered. One he really didn't want to get into but, since she'd asked, he would humor her. "Is it that important to you?"

Rebecca shrugged and looked vaguely uncomfortable. "I just wanna know, you know? I mean . . . there's so much about your life that I missed out on, so much I don't know about you and what you've been through." She wanted to understand him better. She wanted to understand how her sweet, innocent, human Damon became who he was today. Or who he was pretending to be. She wanted to understand why he pretended.

"Pain, death, none of it fun," he responded, no amusement in his voice. He could be serious about this if that was what she wanted. "It's not a pretty story, Becca."

"I didn't say it was going to be. But I'm not asking for all the gory details."

"Right." He walked beside her for about a minute before speaking and then he began. "For the longest time after you disappeared it was bad. I was angry that I had to go on without you because I was . . . scared -" he winced at that admittance "- of being alone. And if you tell anyone I said that, I'll bite you. Hard."

"Duly noted." She smiled and shook her head. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. It's not fair."

"No, it isn't. I left Stefan not long after you went away. I couldn't deal with it, with him." He didn't tell her that he left Stefan with Lexi because he was _not_ going to bring her up again since Rebecca had already forgiven him for it. "And then yeah, I went out. Talked to girls, women, because I couldn't talk to you. It never felt right, though. They weren't you. They weren't quirky or intelligent or funny. They didn't know what I was and if they ever found out they didn't want anything to do with me afterward."

"Some people are so close-minded," Rebecca said, taking in the haunted look Damon had in his eyes. She was almost sorry for bringing this up but she wanted him to know it was okay to talk about these things. To talk about his life, his feelings - he needed to know it was okay to feel, to be bothered by things and to deal with them healthily and not let things build until he snapped. He needed to know he could talk to her.

"Then there was this girl. She knew and she didn't run away. There was nothing romantic at all - she was barely fifteen. I let her in and things were okay for a while - I wasn't alone, I had someone who knew about me and wasn't afraid all the time. But when it came down to it -" Damon cut himself off. "To make a long story less long . . . every person who I've ever let myself care about has turned their back on me. You open your heart to someone and they let you down. I learned that a long time ago. So I just stopped . . . letting people in."

"If the people you met did that - with no provocation from you - you must not have met many decent people then." Rebecca shrugged. "Though I guess it is human nature to fear the unknown. Maybe _I'm_ the weird one for accepting everything so easily."

"Well, I already know you're weird," Damon said, a smile gracing his lips.

"Hey!" She smiled and pushed him, actually moving him to the side a little.

"Uh, if I fall you're going down with me," he said, shaking the arm he had hold of.

"Uh-huh. You've got excellent reflexes, so if you fall it's your own fault."

They finally reached the top and, thanks to Rebecca's Slayer endurance, she wasn't even out of breath. Damon turned her toward the cliff's edge and she was struck breathless for a few seconds. Rebecca hadn't realized how much time had passed by, but the sky was fading to pink and orange and even a few shades of purple. The sun was setting and the myriad of colors was breathtakingly beautiful.

"So, it's been almost fifty years between sunsets?" she whispered.

Damon wrapped his arms around her from behind and she held onto him.

"Yeah, I figured now is a good time to start watching them again."

Rebecca felt her chest tighten, but it wasn't painful. She had caught the double meaning behind his words. He wanted to start watching them again because he had someone to watch them with now. "I love this. We should freeze this moment or something. I'm glad you brought me here."

Damon chuckled and she felt his breath on her ear. "Well, I don't know about freezing it, but we _can_ capture it."

Damon suddenly had his phone out and they were posing together; they even did a few funny-face ones. And for a moment everything was right. Damon always had a way of making her feel wonderful or making things seem a little less hard. She hoped she could to the same for him one day.

* * *

The next day Rebecca ate lunch with Elena and Bonnie at school. Just because she wasn't a student didn't mean she wasn't allowed on campus anymore. Bonnie looked seriously sleep deprived for some reason and after a few moments of conversation Rebecca knew why. Bonnie had been having nightmares about Emily, her ancestor, and whenever Bonnie woke up from said nightmare she'd find herself in the woods by Fell's Church.

Fell's Church was in ruins now, but that was where all the vampires had been taken in 1864 - they were now underneath it, locked in a tomb, but Bonnie and Elena didn't know that.

"Do you believe in ghosts?" Bonnie asked.

"Before all this stuff started happening I didn't believe in anything supernatural," Rebecca said. "But now . . ."

"I think I'm being haunted."

"I don't get it," Elena said. "Why Emily?"

"Grams said she was a powerful witch back in the Civil War days. The medallion was hers; it's a witch's talisman."

"And it all started when you got the necklace?"

"I think she's using it to communicate with me."

Rebecca bit her lip, going over everything Bonnie had said. "Well, if she is trying to communicate . . . she probably won't go away until she knows you've gotten the message."

"But I don't know what she wants!" Bonnie said, and Rebecca was sure that if Bonnie hadn't been so tired she would've been crying.

"Well, the dream, can you remember it?" Rebecca asked. "Anything would be helpful."

"Emily said she wanted me to help her. Um, she was looking at the church, she said, "This is where it started, and this is where it has to end"."

"Oh, uh . . ." Rebecca averted her eyes. "Wow. I don't want to freak you out, but I think I might know what she wants."

Bonnie looked up at Rebecca expectantly. "Go ahead. Anything to make it stop, please."

"Okay, when you found the necklace at the Lockwood mansion you told me 'you can't let them out.' But now I think it was Emily telling me that through you. I didn't know what that meant until Halloween night. Back in 1864 Emily lived in Mystic Falls. She was _Katherine's_ -" she still snarled her nose up at the name " - handmaid. Um, the town was crawling with vampires back then. The townspeople rounded them up and planned on burning them to death in Fell's Church. Damon, under compulsion, went to Emily asking for a way to save her, so Emily did a spell. They're underneath the church in a tomb, have been for 145 years. Obviously Emily doesn't want them to get out."

Rebecca was suddenly glad she had already explained the time traveling spell to them or it would've taken forever.

"Uh, that crystal has the power to open the tomb to let them out. Which would be bad. There are almost thirty vampires and, uh, they aren't the friendliest people. I knew some of them and only a few were worth more than a grain of salt. We can't let them out."

"How are they even . . . still alive?" Elena asked. "Or, um . . . whatever you would call it."

"Vampires don't die if they don't feed. They desiccate, but if they get blood somehow they're okay again."

"Oh."

Rebecca noticed Elena was very uncomfortable with the subject. "It's okay to be curious, Elena. It's not a sin."

Elena looked sullen all of a sudden. "Yeah, well, it doesn't matter because I . . ."

"You?"

"I was coming to terms with it. I was, but then Stefan said I'd been right to stay away from him - that if I stayed with him it was too dangerous." Elena became guarded. "Because of Damon."

"Because of the Lexi thing." Rebecca nodded. "Damon was out of line on that one. I told him that. We didn't argue, but I was furious with him. I've never wanted to hit somebody so bad in my life. But he won't hurt you, Elena. Or you, Bonnie. He even stopped feeding from Caroline because I asked him to."

"Stefan . . . Stefan said Damon won't ever change, Rebecca," Elena said sympathetically.

"But he already has just since he's been here with me. He's been miserable and lonely since 1864. He doesn't know what it's like to have friends because . . . no one has ever tried for him. But I am. I wanna help him."

Rebecca berated herself for becoming all emotional, but she was also glad that she could be open with the two girls again. She knew that if _they_ had known Damon when he'd been human and how he'd been when he'd first been turned they wouldn't be so quick to judge and they'd know why she was trying to help him be better. But Rebecca wanted him to be better for himself - or wanted him to want to be better for himself. She wanted him to look in the mirror and not see a monster, not see someone he hated.

* * *

So . . . I wanted them to have a big blowout over the Lexi thing, but I just couldn't do it. If I made Rebecca hold a grudge too long then it would be going against her nature, especially where Damon is involved. Rebecca does not like being on the outs with people she cares about. Anyway . . . review, if you want.

Thanks!


	32. Chapter 27

Okay, this starts right where the last one left off. Rebecca had just been having lunch with Elena and Bonnie, and Bonnie admitted to her dreams.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

After Bonnie had admitted to her dreams, Rebecca had suggested having another girl's night - her, Bonnie, Elena and Caroline. She had to take care of something first; she wanted to talk to Diana about objects that could possess people. She went to Diana's house from the school - she was sure Diana would want her to train since she'd been slacking there lately.

The gray-haired woman took Rebecca to a warehouse and they went into the basement. Then Diana put a blindfold on her.

"What are you doing?"

"Testing your responses in total darkness and silence."

"Uh, okay. What about the other thing?"

"After this, this won't take long. I'm going to throw a ball at you and you need to catch it - it's just a bouncy ball, it won't hurt you if you don't."

"Okay."

The first two times Rebecca didn't catch the ball, but she didn't get hit either. She was able to use her senses to tell where the ball was being thrown from and stay out of the way.

"May I ask why I need to know this? I'll never wittingly put myself in total darkness with a vampire."

She caught the ball the third time and threw it back the way it had come. She grinned when it made contact with her Watcher.

"That hit my head," Diana said with a huff.

"Sorry. I'm blindfolded, can't see. My bad."

"You . . . have a very smart mouth."

Rebecca shrugged and took the blindfold off. "Can we talk now?"

"Objects of possession."

"Right. Spirits attached to an object. Said spirit is possessing a friend of mine. It's an ancestor of hers."

"Well, there's always your classic exorcism for cases of possession."

"No, no. I've seen that movie. Even the priest died."

"Well, then . . . You have to get rid of the object. Destroy it magically."

"How do we do that?"

"Well, it depends on what the object is and why exactly a spirit is bound to it."

"What if the spirit is only trying to communicate with us?"

Diana smiled softly. "Well, then . . . Maybe you should just try to listen. Chances are the spirit doesn't mean any harm."

* * *

Stefan had stopped going to school - he was avoiding Elena, Damon knew - and so he was sleeping in, sort of. Damon had made coffee and had poured Stefan one, but since his brother wasn't up yet he thought Stefan needed a wake up call.

"Rise and shine!" he said as he entered his brother's room.

Stefan sat up quickly, seeming startled. "What're you doing?"

Damon held up the mug and said, "Peace offering."

Stefan stood up, rolling his eyes, and went towards the bedroom door. He was just going to leave, apparently.

"Come on, you need it for blood circulation," Damon said, standing in the way of his exit. "Does dead flesh good." Stefan didn't even blink. "A'right, I'm sorry." Damon was almost sincere, but only almost.

"Step aside please."

"I got the town off our back, it was for the greater good, but I'm sorry. And to prove it . . . I'm not gonna feed on a human, for at least a . . . week. I'll adopt the Stefan diet. Only nothing with feathers."

"Because I realize that killing your closest and oldest friend is beyond evil and yet somehow it's worthy of humor," Stefan said, moving towards the wardrobe now instead of leaving the room.

"Are you mimicking me?" Damon asked.

"Yes, Stefan," Stefan said. "Now that the secret society of vampire haters is off our back I can go back to my routine of "How Can I Destroy Stefan's Life This Week."

Damon decided to play along, so he began mimicking his brother. "And I can go back to sulking and Elena longing and forehead brooding. This is fun, I like this."

"And I will finally reveal my ulterior motive behind my evil and diabolical return to Mystic Falls."

Damon guessed that meant his brother _didn't_ believe that he was there just for Rebecca.

"Yeah. I'm done," he said and began to walk away. "That's just like you, Damon. Always have to have the last word."

And, just like that, he _did_ have the last word because he left the room.

* * *

That night Rebecca stopped by the Grill to get four separate meals for her, Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline. Rebecca didn't want to cook so they were getting take out - hamburgers and French fries.

Ironically, Damon was there at the bar.

"Hm. We run into each other everywhere," she said, sitting beside him.

"Can't see why you'd mind," Damon teased, smirking. She could tell, though, he was tense. His shoulders were held too tightly for him to be relaxed.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm on edge," he admitted. "New diet."

"Huh?"

When Damon spoke again his voice was quieter. "I told Stefan I wouldn't feed from a human for at least a week. Peace offering for . . . Lexi. I promised I'd try the Stefan diet. Only nothing with feathers."

Rebecca laughed at the last part, but she was also wondering if he thought that was really going to work. He'd killed Stefan's friend. Him not feeding from a human for a week wasn't going to change the fact that she was now dead.

"So why're you here," Damon asked.

"Girl's night at Elena's. I'm picking up the food."

"All girls? Can I come?"

She slapped him on his leather clad arm and said, "No!"

The food came and she kissed him quickly before leaving. When she got to Elena's the other three girls were talking about manicures, and Rebecca rolled her eyes good-naturedly. Bonnie said her kit was in her bag so Caroline went to get it from the living room. Rebecca noticed that Bonnie wasn't wearing her necklace and she commented on it.

"I threw it away," she said. "I had to get rid of it."

"No, it's right here," Caroline said, holding the necklace in one hand and the manicure kit in the other.

"But I saw her throw it into a field," Elena claimed.

"Well . . . How do you explain it?" Caroline asked.

Elena and Rebecca looked at each other. "Emily?"

"She is connected to Bonnie," Rebecca added on her own.

"Who's Emily?" Caroline asked, and Rebecca realized Caroline really had no clue about what was going on. She was oblivious.

"The ghost."

"Oh, the ghost has a name now?" Caroline asked sarcastically.

"I wonder why she won't just leave me alone," Bonnie asked, frustrated.

"Okay, what are you talking about?" Caroline complained. "And how come I'm not a part of this conversation? You guys do this to me all the time!"

"Caroline, that's not true," Elena said.

"Yes, it is," Bonnie replied, and then looked at Caroline. "I can't talk to you; you don't listen."

"That's not true," Caroline said, insulted.

Bonnie pursed her lips and just looked at Caroline. "I'm a witch."

"And don't we all know it," Caroline snipped.

"See, that's what I'm talking about," Bonnie said. "I'm trying to tell you something, and you don't even hear it."

Bonnie stalked off into the living room and then Caroline looked at Rebeca and Elena. "I listen. When do I not listen?"

"Is that a trick question?" Rebecca asked.

"No, actually, it's a very simple one," Caroline said, hurt.

"You listen, Care, I just don't think you take things seriously enough sometimes," Elena said. "This necklace thing is real for Bonnie. It was giving her nightmares."

"The _necklace_ was giving her nightmares?"

Elena and Rebecca gave Caroline a summary of what Bonnie was going through without mentioning the witch thing even though Caroline knew about it; Caroline didn't believe in it.

After that, Caroline went and apologized to Bonnie, telling her she was listening now since she knew it was real for Bonnie now. After Caroline and Bonnie made up, the former called Elena and Rebecca into the living room.

"So, what do you guys wanna do?" Caroline asked. Rebecca was going to mention the forgotten food, but then Caroline shot up off the couch so fast that her blond hair bounced. "I know. Let's have a seance."

Rebecca grimaced; Elena looked unsure; Bonnie looked scared.

"Oh, come on! Let's summon some spirits," Caroline said excitedly. "This Emily chick has some serious explaining to do."

Rebecca smiled at the enthusiasm in Caroline's voice and she quickly agreed, stating that if the seance worked then at least Bonnie would be free of Emily. Elena and Bonnie agreed rather reluctantly. And Elena went to get some candles. The four girls decided that Elena's room would be seance central. Jeremy and Jenna weren't home, but the girls didn't want them to come back home to them performing a weird spirit summons either.

So there they were in a circle, candles alight on the hardwood floor, Rebecca, Elena and Bonnie participating only to make Caroline happy.

"Okay, now, concentrate," the cheerleader instructed. "Bonnie, call to her."

Rebecca held back a grin. "I've seen this movie, Care. Only one of us walks away at the end."

"Shh! Be quiet and close your eyes."

"Fine, bossy."

Rebecca closed her green eyes and took a deep breath only to chuckle when Bonnie said, "Emily, you there?"

All the girls opened their eyes.

"Really? 'Emily, you there?' That's all you've got?" Caroline asked.

"Okay, Jeeze. I'll try again," Bonnie said.

So they grew serious now, and when Bonnie spoke Rebecca could tell she'd changed her mindset; this was no longer a game - they were doing this for real.

"Emily. I call on you. I know you have a message for me, and I'm ready to listen."

Even with her eyes closed Rebecca could see that the flames from the candles had flared for a second. They all opened their eyes again.

"Did that just -"

"Yeah, that's just happened," Caroline interrupted.

The room suddenly grew chilly but Bonnie tried to convince herself it was just the ventilation in the house.

"Ask for another sign," Caroline said, but Bonnie refused. "Emily, if you're with us, show us another sign."

With bated breath, Rebecca and the others waited, but nothing happened. Bonnie seemed relieved, but then the flames flared again and the windows flew open _on their own_.

"Okay, that's it." Bonnie stood up. "I'm done. I can't." She threw her necklace on the ground and the candles blew out.

Elena hurriedly turned the light on, and then . . . the necklace was missing.

"Uh . . ."

Rebecca didn't scare easily but she was scared now. Vampires were one thing; ghosts were completely different. They couldn't be seen, for one, and this whole thing was giving her tummy rumblings. Before showing any outward fear, however, she decided they should look for the necklace just in case. They searched the whole room, including under the bed, and got nothing for their efforts. Then Bonnie found it in the bathroom.

How the _hell_ had it gotten in there? Before Rebecca could warn Bonnie against touching it, since it seemed to be moving on its own whether it was from the field or to the bathroom, the bathroom door closed, locking Bonnie in. Rebecca was stunned into inaction for a second because the door had closed on its own, but then her friend started screaming for help, and it startled Rebecca enough to try and help.

There were two entrances to the bathroom, but neither would open. Elena and Caroline were both hitting the door and begging Bonnie to open it.

"I can break it down," Rebecca said, getting ready to kick it off its hinges, but then she found she couldn't move an inch. "Uh . . . I'm stuck."

Both Caroline and Elena looked at her oddly but she didn't care. She literally _couldn't_ move at all - it was like the air had thickened around her and had trapped her.

_Screw you too, Emily_, she thought, not liking that she'd been stricken immobile and basically useless. Only when Bonnie had stopped screaming was Rebecca able to move - better late than never. Rebecca watched as Elena opened the door, and saw Bonnie covering her face for some reason. The air was tense as the three girls in the bedroom waited for the one in the bathroom to give them some sign she was okay.

"Bonnie?" Rebecca said, stepping forward. "Everything okay?"

"I'm fine," Bonnie said, dropping her hands to her sides. "All is fine."

And just like that Caroline went from concerned to irritated. "Unbelievable. You were totally faking it the whole time. You scared the hell out of me!"

Rebecca didn't say anything but something felt wrong. Bonnie wasn't acting like herself at all. Even her facial expressions were off.

"Bonnie?"

"Everything's fine." Bonnie was too calm and steady to be Bonnie. Her whole demeanor was different. "I must go."

"If she's leaving, I'm leaving," Caroline said.

"You guys can't leave," Elena said.

"Oh, I can. I've had enough freaky fake witch stuff for one night."

"Thank you for having me," Bonnie said. "I'll take it from here."

"Where are you going?" Elena asked.

"Back to where it all began. It must be destroyed."

Bonnie rushed down the stairs, and Rebecca noticed that she didn't even move the same. And it clicked.

"Oh, my God!" She swallowed convulsively. "Emily?"

Bonnie/Emily turned to look at her but then she was rushing out the door. The door that wouldn't budge when the girls tried to open it.

_Come on, super strength_, Rebecca scolded herself.

Rebecca was going to suggest breaking a window - she didn't like feeling trapped - but Jeremy opened it from the outside.

"I'm outta here," Caroline said before running outside.

Rebecca and Elena couldn't see Bonnie anywhere even though it had only been seconds since she'd left.

"Fell's Church," Rebecca said. "We need to get to Fell's Church. That's where she'll go."

"Why Fell's Church?" Elena asked, already grabbing a jacket and following Rebecca out to her car.

"Emily said she was going back to where it all began. Well, that's where it started. I guess she has to _destroy_ the necklace there because it's the only place it could be used for. I'm not sure. But the important thing is we have to help Bonnie."

"I'm gonna call Stefan, see if he knows what to do. He told me he wanted to give me some distance, but this is important."

"He'll understand," Rebecca said.

They were driving now, and Rebecca vaguely wondered if she should call Damon but then figured he was probably with Stefan, so he would hear the conversation anyway.

When the two girls arrived at their destination they saw that the Salvatore brothers had already arrived. Emily was explaining to Stefan what she had done, how she had saved Katherine and the others.

"You saved everyone in the church?" Stefan asked, mystified.

"To save her, I had to save them. With one comes all."

Bonnie/Emily was drawing something in the dirt around her when Rebecca spoke up.

"Hello, Emily."

A hint of a smile fell upon Bonnie's lips. "Rebecca. Thank you for being a good friend to my grandchild."

Rebecca shrugged, not know what to say other than she was welcome.

"These people should never have to know such evil," Bonnie/Emily said. "I can't unleash them into this world."

Rebecca nodded understandingly. "I think we all agree they are better left where they are."

She glanced at the other three. Elena and Stefan nodded, and Damon shrugged.

Bonnie shouted _Incendia_ and she was engulfed in a bed of flames - Rebecca would've feared for Bonnie's life if she hadn't been possessed by Emily. Rebecca watched, fascinated, as Bonnie/Emily threw her necklace into the air and it exploded, creating a small fireworks display. As soon as the smoke and fire cleared Bonnie fell to the ground in a faint, and Rebecca was fairly certain that Emily was gone now. Emily was a spirit, she had no reason to faint, if spirits _could_ faint.

Elena and Rebecca fell to the ground beside her, and the Slayer checked the witch's pulse - it was steady and strong.

"She'll be okay," Rebecca stated. "Assuming she's not traumatized for life."

"I think our little witch can handle it," Damon said. "Once she gets her feet back on the ground."

Rebecca, Elena, and the two brothers waited patiently for Bonnie to awaken and she did, finally, gasping and looking around in fright.

"How'd I get here?" Bonnie asked.

"You were possessed," Damon said bluntly. "Emily brought you here, you destroyed the crystal, and now you're you again."

Rebecca held back a smile - Damon seemed oblivious to the fact that he lacked subtlety. He obviously didn't believe in breaking things to people gently.

"Tact, Damon," Stefan said. "Look it up."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Like you could've done it better? Besides, she asked a question and I gave her an honest answer, explained the whole situation in about fifteen words. If you had answered, we would've been here all night, Stef."

Rebecca shook her head but thought - happily - that they weren't trying to kill each other, at least. Then she focused on Bonnie.

"Are you okay? I don't think you have to worry about Emily anymore. She got what she wanted. She should be able to rest now."

"I'm . . . I feel like I haven't slept in a month."

"Side effect of the possession, probably," Rebecca surmised. "Come on, we'll get you home, okay?"

Bonnie nodded. "I still don't want to be alone."

Rebecca and Elena helped Bonnie stand up and Rebecca swiped the leaves off of Bonnie's clothes.

"We'll stay with you, don't worry." Rebecca winced. "You have serious damage control to do with Caroline. She thinks you were just messing around and she freaked out."

"Ugh! Remind me in the morning. I don't need any more problems tonight."

Rebecca nodded and smiled fondly at her witch friend. "Okay, now come on."

* * *

Rebecca and Elena had stayed with Bonnie that night, even though they went back to Elena's. They didn't fall asleep until she did. Bonnie was understandably scared - possession couldn't be easy; not that Rebecca wanted to find out personally. She would hate not having control of her own body.

The next morning Rebecca fixed them breakfast - everyone in the Gilbert house appreciated it. Jenna couldn't cook but she liked to eat; Jeremy's expertise stopped at coffee and sandwiches.

After breakfast Rebecca went home just because she wanted to see how her dad was - since she'd talked to Damon about it and had found out about the compulsion she knew why he'd been acting odd. Did compulsion last forever? If not, how long would it last? There was more talking and less arguing and she liked it even if it had made her suspicious at first. And she kind of realized that she was maybe a hypocrite. She hadn't wanted Jeremy to be compelled and yet she was okay with _this_.

She ended up riding in the car with her dad about an hour later. They had left Chelsea at home with Tina. Rebecca wondered where they were going.

"Well, I'm contracting this new project and I'd like you to be a part of it. The historical society wants me to pick a building to restore, and I picked the original Salvatore house."

"Ha!" Rebecca had to laugh. "You can't be serious; it's a wreck." The place was practically burnt to a crisp. She remembered why; people had been burned inside.

Her dad laughed with her. "Yes. That's where my crew and I come in. We'll rebuild the whole thing if we have to, which is probable. But I figured, you know, since you know them you might be interested."

She was touched by his inclusion of her, but she was also sad because it wasn't real. It was an un-Dad thing to do, and if Damon hadn't compelled him to be this way . . . she wouldn't be here with him right now.

"Thank you," she said anyway. "And I am interested. Is that where we're going now?"

"Yes. I need to take everything in, estimate the construction fee. The bank is paying for it since it's an historical monument. We're going to use the original site and make a replica of the original house."

Her dad didn't really have a construction crew anymore since he didn't work for a company now, but she assumed that, because he _had,_ the town was leaving this little detail to him. Rebecca had to admit that excited her. She wondered what Stefan and Damon would think about it. It had been their home, and hers, for a while at least.

"Before you tear it down . . . Can I look inside? I'll be careful, I promise."

"Sure. The foundation's pretty strong for such an old building. You should be fine."

Rebecca and her dad pulled up outside the dilapidated remains of the old Salvatore house. The pristine white of the house had turned a disgusting grayish-black over the years, helped by the charred look it had from the burning 145 years ago. Rebecca's breath caught because she had lived here at one time - she had fallen in love with Damon here. Granted he was a vastly different man now, but he was still Damon Salvatore.

"Hey, Dad?"

"Hm?"

"How . . . how did you find out about vampires?"

"Your mother," her father said hesitantly.

"What?"

"When we were together . . . she always went on and on about all these things that go bump in the night. I don't know if you know this or not, but your mother was from one of the founding families. I'm not, of course, and she took my name, which she wasn't supposed to do. The females from the founding families are not supposed to take their husbands names when they marry. So the name will live on."

"Oh . . . so she . . . mom knew before you did, and . . . why did she tell you?"

"She told me because she knew she wasn't going to be around to watch over you anymore. I needed to know the signs to watch out for."

"Oh . . ."

Rebecca didn't know what to say about that. She'd never even considered that her mom would know about vampires, that her mom had been part of a founding family. Rebecca guessed that that honor was taken away from her when she'd married an outsider. They'd never been invited to Founders events until after Robert had started working for them.

Rebecca stopped thinking about it and looked around her. The yard and the gardens and the maze had all become overgrown and wild, and had lost their splendor. Rebecca thought it was a real shame. This place had been beautiful once. She didn't even want to see what the pond looked like; it was probably covered with algae. It might have snakes and other slithery things in it now.

"Can I really be a part of this - the remodeling, the refurnishing, all of it? This would be a beautiful place to bring back to life." Rebecca smiled. "Did you mean it when you said I could?"

"You can help, yes."

"Great. You won't be disappointed, I promise."

She got out of the car, suddenly glad that Chelsea wasn't there. She wanted to go inside and she wouldn't have taken Chelsea in there to save her life. The house could maybe fall down any second.

She carefully went into the house while her dad stayed outside to look at the grounds. Her dad was right; the foundation was still sturdy. Still, better safe than sorry, so she watched her step anyway. She made her way up to the attic only because of a conversation she remembered having with Damon - she would revisit his and her rooms later, if there was time.

One thing she was sure of was that the new house would have electricity and plumbing. The only reason she could see up here was because of the sun. There were about three or four old pieces of furniture stored here. Books cluttered the floor and others were stacked against the wall These objects didn't appeal to her at all, though she was going to suggest to her father that they should try and restore the furniture too. What Rebecca wanted was in the corner covered with dust, and when she cleared it off she sneezed about four times.

What she wanted was a picture - a painting of Damon's mother. She had the same raven hair, the same blue eyes that Damon did. She had softer features because she was a woman . . . but one could find the resemblance easily if they knew what to look for.

"What're you doing up here?" her father's voice carried through the doorway, frightening her a little.

"Old house, hidden secrets and all that." She smiled softly because she saw how uncomfortable being paternal made him. _That _was how her dad acted. "I was careful, and the floor up here is just as sturdy as the one downstairs. Also, Damon told me his ancestors used to store things up here. Like this picture. I'm sure Damon and Stefan would love to have it; they don't have many family heirlooms. Do you think I could have this remastered, make it look like the original?"

"I'm sure they have a place like that in Richmond. Wouldn't hurt to try." Her father grimaced. "It's a little expensive, though."

Rebecca felt a little thrill go through her. It was time to see what Damon's compulsion would get her dad to let her do. "Well, what if I pay for half of it, and then you pay for the other half?" She blushed and looked down. "Damon does so much for me that I want to do this for him."

"You guys are pretty serious, huh?"

"Um . . ." Was she really supposed to be having this conversation with her father? "We're, um . . . I guess it depends on your definition of serious."

"I mean am I going to have to worry about him making an honest woman out of you," her dad said bluntly.

Rebecca blinked a few times and then laughed. "No. Believe me, that's not a problem for us. We're taking things slow, as per my request." Plus . . . vampires couldn't procreate. Damon's swimmers had died when he had.

"Hm. And he's okay with that?"

Rebecca shrugged, suddenly uncomfortable. "He's not complaining. I think . . . I think he just likes being with me, around me. Things are good the way they are and he doesn't want to mess it up."

Rebecca had never really thought about whether Damon was okay with it or not that they weren't really moving forward in their relationship. But that was because they weren't in a regular relationship. Intimate to a vampire was different than intimate to a human. Her letting him touch her where no other man had was what she called intimate. Intimate to Damon was her letting him drink from her, willingly, and without being afraid. Intimate to him was her trusting him not to take too much or hurt her.

Considering she was human and he . . . wasn't . . . she thought their relationship was right where it was supposed to be.

* * *

Later that same day, after Rebecca and her dad had gotten home, Rebecca decided to go to the boardinghouse. She felt like walking so she took the scenic route through the local park. The problem with that was . . . she found a body behind a dumpster. A female in a jogging suit, neck wound, drained of blood. Victim of a vampire.

"Damn it!" she exclaimed. She continued to use every expletive she knew until she got it out of her system. Then she called Sheriff Forbes. Within minutes Liz arrived on the scene; she was by herself because she didn't want to cause a scene.

"What happened?"

"Uh, I don't know. I just found her." Rebecca sighed. "There's no blood in her mouth, so I don't think she'll become a vampire. Whoever did this, though, is new or just doesn't care. Maybe they're trying to send a message. If they know about the Council or -" she broke off, looking down "- I don't know, but I'll look around. I know their usual haunts, so it shouldn't be too hard."

"You mean a vampire doesn't just have to bite?" Liz asked. "To turn someone?"

"No, you have to have vampire blood in your system when you die. But mostly they're just gonna kill you. A vampire usually only turns a person if they have a reason to."

"A reason?"

"Um . . . you know, like they need someone to do their dirty work, or . . . they want to be with someone forever. It's neither of those, though. If it were like that we wouldn't have found the body. So like I said, I don't think she'll become one."

The sheriff used the yellow police tape to close off the area and then called for back up. She needed someone to come and pick up the body. Rebecca let out a deep breath, suddenly tired. It was like she wasn't allowed to have even one day of peace. _If it's not witches, it's vampires_, she thought.

"I was just going to see Damon. Did you want me to fill him in?" Rebecca asked.

"I'll give you a lift," Liz said.

So they got in Liz's cop car and arrived at the boardinghouse in five minutes. So much for her walk.

Damon met them at the door with a smirk. "You need a police escort now, Becca?"

"We need to talk," Liz said. "May I come in?"

Damon looked behind him - probably looking for Stefan - and then nodded. "We can talk out back. Come on."

Rebecca had never been out back of the boardinghouse, and she didn't have the time to take in its beauty yet, not today. But there was a garden pathway, much like there had been at the original Salvatore house. There was no pond, but there was a fountain made of stone that was trickling water.

"I hope you understand the secrecy. Stefan doesn't know about any of this yet, and I'd like to keep it that way," Damon said, sounding like a protective older brother. Rebecca knew that if Stefan was anywhere nearby he'd hear whatever they were talking about.

"Of course," Liz replied. "Kids are too young to be brought into this."

Rebecca wanted to raise her hand and say 'what about me?' but she didn't.

"So, what do you need?"

Damon was being perfectly polite, Rebecca noticed. She didn't know if that meant he was guilty or innocent. It had been bugging her, though, since she'd found the body, whether or not Damon had done it. She needed to know.

"There's been another attack. A female victim, her throat torn out, completely drained of blood. It fits the pattern."

Rebecca watched Damon's reaction. She could usually tell if he was lying just by the sound of his voice.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand. I thought we solved that problem when I staked the blond one."

"I'm thinking she must've turned someone. Or multiple someones, I don't know. The story for the town is another animal attack, but I'm not sure how long we can keep lying to them. The Council is in an uproar. We thought we were past this."

"I told Liz I'd look around, check out a few places. Thought you might want to join me," Rebecca said, relief coursing through her because she knew Damon hadn't had anything to do with this. Thank God. She didn't have to feel guilty about letting him get away with this.

"Of course," Damon replied. "You're not going by yourself."

"Actually, Rebecca, I was hoping you could help out at the Career Fair tonight in case someone stops by. My deputies will be out searching," Liz said. "I'm the only one aside from the mayor who will be there. Might need back up."

"Oh. Okay," Rebecca said. "Sure. And I have a question, or more like a request, actually."

"What?" Liz asked.

Rebecca flushed at the thought that had popped into her head. "This is a disturbing request, I know that, but the coroner is in the Council, yes? And the undertaker, obviously, how else would one explain seeing a vampire on a bed of metal?" She broke off when she realized she was babbling. "Anyway, my request is that I have a key to the, uh, wherever you take the dead vampires after you find them, that way I don't have to call you every time. You know, so I can just incinerate them. I mean, I'll tell you when I find one, but I don't have to bother you if it's, oh, say, three o'clock in the morning or something."

Damon had looked away to hide his smile at Rebecca's unusual request. She wanted a key to the incinerator room? Granted, the point she'd made was valid, but he'd been surprised that she'd thought of it. Talk about big picture thinking. Rebecca was awesome. And she'd been rambling. Only when he'd put a hand on her back had she fallen into silence.

"Uh . . . I can see if I can work that for you," Liz said. She seemed surprised by Rebecca, too. "Anyway, please let me know anything you guys find."

"Absolutely," Damon said, beginning to show the girls back into the house. He was going to show Liz out.

As soon as the sheriff was gone, Stefan shoved Damon against the door. "What is wrong with you? You killed somebody?"

"Get off me," Damon said, shoving back.

_Oh, brotherly love_, Rebecca thought, wryly.

"A, don't touch me," Damon said. "B, if I had, I wouldn't be so obvious about it. And C, there's another vampire in town."

"That's impossible," Stefan countered.

"Obviously not," Damon and Rebecca said, both with the same snarky attitude.

"Well, who could it be? How are we supposed to find this person?" Stefan asked.

Rebecca looked at Stefan as if he'd suddenly come down with a small case of stupidity. "Uh, vampire compass, hello!" She shrugged. "Simple solution. Just give it to me and I'll go -"

"You're not going by yourself," Damon interrupted.

"Well, you can't come with me; you'll interfere with the signal."

"So we'll get somebody else to do it."

"Somebody like . . ."

"Caroline," Damon said, shrugging.

"No," this time Rebecca talked with Stefan.

"She's human," Rebecca said. "She could get hurt."

"You're human, you could get hurt," Damon said, turning her words around on her. "Your life is more valuable."

Rebecca looked heavenward, praying for patience. "That's not how it works, Damon, and that's not what I meant. She's a _regular_ human - nothing to help her if she gets in trouble."

Damon rolled his eyes. "I'm not not going to ask her to fight anyone. I just want her to find 'em. Besides, it's daylight. Me and Stefan are the only ones in town who can walk in the sun."

"While you two argue, I'm gonna go warn Elena," Stefan said. "Work it out, it's good for you."

Damon and Rebecca gave Stefan the same exasperated look as he walked out the front door. Then Damon was calling Caroline. Rebecca supervised him and made sure he wasn't making her do anything that could get her killed. As he'd said, he didn't want her to confront any vampires; he just wanted her to find the person.

"Blondie's coming to get it after school."

"You compelled her over the phone," Rebecca said. "How do you compel someone over the phone?"

"A new vampire can't." Damon shrugged. "But, since I am _very_ old, I don't have a problem."

"Hm. I just don't understand why she answered the phone. If you treated me the way you treat her, I would never speak to you again."

"Yes, you would. I would bug you until you gave in."

Rebecca rolled her eyes. He had totally missed the point. The point had been she didn't think it was right of him to treat Caroline the way he did. No, Rebecca wasn't going to tell him what to do, but Caroline's blood had kept him alive for a few weeks; he should at least be grateful.

* * *

Around four o'clock that day Damon found himself in the warehouse district of downtown Mystic Falls. Caroline had called to tell him where the compass had led her and he'd met her there. He'd compelled her to forget he'd even asked her to do something for him.

Only Rebecca knew where he was, and that was only because he'd been with her when he'd gotten the call from Blondie. Damon went into the dark warehouse and realized a human wouldn't be able to see inside very well. It was completely dark.

Within ten seconds of going inside, Damon was on his knees. Someone had shot him four times - once in each shoulder and once in each knee.

_Fuck_! And they were wooden bullets too.

Damon, grunting in pain, fell to his side to take the pressure off his knees and glanced up.

Logan Fell stood in front of him. Logan Fell, who was supposed to be dead-dead, not vampire dead, had a gun in his hands. It didn't matter, though because Damon already had murderous thoughts in his mind because the little bastard had shot him. _Four times_. And it hurt like a bitch.

"I have _tons_ of these wooden bullets, so nothing funky," Logan warned.

"You don't wanna do this, trust me," Damon said, feeling a fresh bout of pain as he dug a bullet out of his left shoulder with his fingers.

Logan shot him again, this time in his left bicep.

"Ow!" If only Damon could move, he'd rip Logan's head off.

"That's what you get!"

"For what?"

"You made me like this," Logan accused, squatting down in front of the injured Damon.

"I killed you, but I didn't turn you." He couldn't stand the man, why would he have turned him?

Damon held his breath to keep from screaming as he dislodged the bullet from his arm.

"See, I know what you and your brother are. I've been watchin' the two of you. I know you'd show up here and I'm glad you did, because I have some questions."

"Me first. Who turned you?" Damon removed another bullet. Two more and he'd be well enough to at least get out of here and into the sun where Logan couldn't follow.

"How should I know? Last thing I remember is I'm about to stake your brother and then you grab me. That's it."

_Another bullet gone__. Just gotta keep him talking_, Damon thought. He really wanted to kill Logan and make it where he wouldn't come back this time.

"Until I wake up in the ground behind a used-car dealership on Highway 4. Somebody buried me."

"It happens."

"You bit me. It had to be you."

"You have to have vampire blood in your system when you die. I didn't do that. Some other vampire found you, gave you their blood."

Damon fell back, exhausted. Holy hell, getting shot hurt even worse when you were a vampire. At least when he'd been human he'd died quickly. In the back of his mind he was worried about Rebecca, but he knew that _this_ wouldn't have any lasting damage on either of them. The night Stefan had staked him in the stomach he'd gone to Rebecca's when he was well enough to move, and she'd been fine. If she'd known anything was wrong it hadn't hurt her permanently; she'd be fine.

"Who?" Logan said to Damon's earlier statement.

"That's what I wanna know." Damon hadn't changed Logan, and Stefan hadn't, so that meant that there was at least one more vampire in town that they didn't know about.

"Dude, it's not like the welcome wagon was out waiting with a Bundt cake and a handbook. It's been a learn as you go process. You know one minute I'm a small-town on-the-rise news guy . . . and next thing I know, I can't get into my house because my foot won't go through the door!"

"You have to be invited in."

"I know. So now I'm at the Ramada watching pay-per-view all day, eating everything in sight including housekeeping. All I can think about is blood. And killing people. I can't stop killing people. I keep killing, and I like it. I'm conflicted."

"Welcome to the club."

Damon finally got the last bullet out and felt his body healing slower than normal due to blood loss. He needed some of the red elixir _now_, so he could kill Logan for even thinking of shooting him. Insane bastard.

"Wait a minute. The cops only found one body."

"I left one. I was tired. I've been hiding the rest of the bodies. They're right back there. They're just piling up."

"Oh, you're kidding . . ."

Damon looked to where Logan was gesturing. Sure enough, there were about ten bodies there, mostly girls. Oh, God, Logan was another Stefan; he wasn't able to control himself apparently. Damon might've considered helping the guy if he hadn't shot the hell out of him. But, no, the only thing he wanted to do was kill the guy, and slowly at that.

Damon was going to make him suffer first.

* * *

Rebecca had fainted again. She'd felt Damon's pain again, because he was in trouble _again_. He got in more trouble than anyone she'd ever met.

It had been like the time Stefan had staked Damon. She'd seen everything. She'd felt everything.

Logan Fell was alive and a vampire. And he thought Damon had turned him. Damon wouldn't have, because Logan was a problem. He knew about the Salvatore brothers and would use it against them. Logan had been hoarding victims; he'd killed so many people in so little time. It hadn't even been a month since Damon had killed him, which meant it hadn't been a month since he'd become a vampire.

How had he become a vampire? Who had done it? How many vampires were really in Mystic Falls that she didn't know about? How many vampires did she have to worry about, and what where they here for? Was this just a mystical hot spot?

Was it going to be like 1864 all over again with vampires everywhere?

No, her family was here. Her friends were here. She wouldn't let it get that bad.

She couldn't.

* * *

Okay, so here's the latest offering. LOL. I know that in the show Damon attacked Bonnie, but in this Damon doesn't need the necklace from her so he has no reason to. So . . . this is going to be a little different in that Bonnie isn't going to be hating Damon for attacking her. But don't worry, it won't changed Bonnie's attitude m_uch_.

Leave a review please. And thanks to everyone who is following now or has favorited or alerted this story or any of my other ones.

Love you guys!


	33. Chapter 28

Alright, this takes up right where the last one left off, only it's back with Damon now. If anyone's wondering why I'm updating so fast, it's because I have a job now and I'm going to start next week, so I'm getting the chapters I already have typed out on here so you can enjoy them. LOL

Now, it has come to my attention that some of you guys like making fan art and such. I'm completely open to people doing that and putting it up on my profile if you want. All you have to do is PM me with the link and I'll put it up and give credit to whoever did it. I have four of them up on my profile page already. Maybe five, I really can't remember. LOL. I was just letting you know I have no objections as long as you give my story credit for the inspiration and all. And I'm not strictly set on who Rebecca would look like. I just know she's not a barbie doll stick figure person. If you've read the story you know the things that stick out about her, so you can just use whoever you want as long as there's long honey blond hair and striking green eyes.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Damon was still healing from the five bullets that had recently been removed from his body, and he was slowly becoming annoyed because Logan wouldn't stop yapping. Granted, Logan talking was way better than Logan shooting him, but . . . Damon wasn't really in the mood to listen . . . He'd been _shot_.

"Why am I so overly emotional?" Logan asked, sitting down a few feet away from Damon. He actually sounded half-sane now. "All I can think about is my ex-girlfriend. I wanna be with her and bite her and stuff."

"Well, you probably love her. Anything you felt before will be magnified now. You're gonna have to learn to control that."

"What about walking in the sun? I'm a morning person. You can walk in the sun, which, by the way, is pretty cool. The Council would never suspect you. That's not in the journals. Come on, man, you gotta tell me. How can you walk around in the sun?"

"Who turned you?" Damon asked in return.

He was _not_ going to tell this idiot his and Stefan's secret. And what, did Logan think that the Council would welcome him back with open arms? He was a vampire now; the town wouldn't care that he was one of their own, they would turn their collective back on him now. Hell, Liz was the one who had buried him.

"How do you walk in the sun?"

"Who turned you?"

Damon could do this all day - it would get boring, but if that was what it took to get an answer . . . He needed to know how many vampires were in this town and where they were holed up so he could get rid of them before they caused trouble, and before Rebecca could get hurt.

"You know, I've been really nice so far, but I _will_ kill you," Logan threatened.

"Then you'll never know," Damon pointed out.

Logan stood up first and Damon followed shortly after, mostly to show that he _could_. It was a na-na-na-na-na-na thing.

"You're not answering my question," Damon said.

"You first."

"It seems we're at a bit of an impasse then, doesn't it?"

"I have things to do. People to kill. I guess I'll be needing a little head start."

And so Damon was shot three more times, this time in the chest, and he was down on the ground, in pain again.

* * *

Meanwhile, outside the warehouse, Rebecca had arrived just in time to hear three gunshots. It made her jump because she hadn't expected it at all. She knew Damon was inside and she knew Logan was too. What did a vampire need a gun for anyway? Wasn't the super strength, super speed, and fangs enough?

He had really inconvenienced her earlier with the pain and the fainting and all. And then . . . why wasn't she fainting now? Why wasn't she feeling the pain now? Was Logan the one who'd been shot this time? Or was it because . . . because she was here now, close to Damon, ready to help him because he needed it?

She'd borrowed Damon's car without permission because she hadn't had her own, and she'd called Stefan to ask him to take her place at the Career Fair because she just knew Damon was in trouble _again_. Stefan hadn't minded taking her place because Elena was going to be at the fair anyway, but he had wondered how Rebecca knew Damon was in trouble. Rebecca hadn't answered because if she'd told Stefan then she'd have to tell Damon and she didn't want Damon to know.

Rebecca watched as Logan Fell came out of the warehouse and she gasped. Seeing him in her head and seeing him for real was a completely different experience. Again she wondered how he'd become a vampire.

Logan spotted her almost as soon as she'd seen him. She noticed he did have a gun on him, and he was reloading. She didn't know if he knew about her secret or not so she proceeded with caution.

"Hello, Logan," she said. She didn't _know_ him know him, but he was a local celebrity. And he'd been Jenna's boyfriend a few years back. She knew him through hanging out with Elena.

"Rebecca Stone. What're you doing out here all alone?"

"Looking for you, apparently," she muttered. She shook her head and gestured to the gun. "You gonna put that down?"

She reached for the stake in her jacket while keeping a keen eye on Logan. When he rushed at her she tossed him away by knocking him back with the palm of her hand. Logan hit the wall of the warehouse and landed on his knees with a thud.

"Ow! You're strong," Logan said. "Pretty sure I'm stronger."

Somehow Rebecca found herself pressed against the wall now - damn vampire speed - while Logan choked her. She glared at him and grabbed his wrist and twisted hard. Within seconds they had switched positions and she had him face first into the wall, arm behind his back. One move and she could break his arm and dislocate his shoulder.

"Seems you made a _serious_ miscalculation, my _friend_."

Logan laughed shortly. "So it's true. You are the Slayer."

"Duh! Give me the gun and I might let you go."

"No, you won't."

"Okay, no, I won't. But I still want the gun. You probably have many more where this came from." She shoved the stake into his side and twisted, clenching her jaw in self-hatred. This had to be done, she knew that, but she didn't have to like it. "Or we can do it -"

"Here, take the damn thing!" Logan dropped it lightly on the ground and Rebecca kicked it aside.

"Thank you. Now . . . who turned you?"

"I don't know. I woke up dead, alone, and hungry!"

"Hm." She stepped away and quickly grabbed the gun, placing it in the back of her pants. She quickly learned her mistake because a blow landed on the side of her head and she landed back first on the hood of Damon's car. Damon's car, which was metal and not one of the new fiberglass affairs, and it hurt.

"Ow!"

She got up as fast as she could and she was relieved to find that Logan was no longer around. He'd obviously been too injured to fight - or maybe he'd just been too much of a coward. Whatever. Either way, she needed to get inside because there had been three gunshots, and seeing as to how Logan had had the gun . . . Damon had been shot.

First thing she noticed was that it was almost completely dark inside. No windows, very dim lights. She had to use her cell phone just to see in front of her. When she reached Damon he was writhing in pain, trying to get a bullet out of his chest.

"Oh, maybe you shouldn't move," she said softly. She could tell how much he was preoccupied by the fact that she'd been able to sneak up on him.

She noticed there were five other shell casings on the floor around him. Those were the shots _she'd_ felt. Damon was covered in blood and she almost gagged, but she stopped herself.

"Um . . . tell me what to do and I'll help," she offered, kneeling by him.

"You have to use your fingers and dig them out."

_Ew_, she thought, but she did it anyway.

She watched Damon closely; he was shaking and pale - paler? - and exhausted. She ripped open the shirt so she could see the damage and saw that his normally perfect chest was marred with wounds.

"Logan has to die," Rebecca said, forcing herself to remove one of the bullets from him. "He knows who I am and what I am. He could tell someone."

She felt like crying as she saw the pain Damon was in. It was so bad the veins were starting to show underneath Damon's eyes.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed. "Do you want me to wait or get the other two now?"

"Go ahead. Best to just get it over with."

"Okay."

Rebecca took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The second and third time wasn't as hard as the first since she knew what she was doing now. Once she was done she watched as Damon tried to calm down and regain his breath. She'd never seen him so physically vulnerable and it made her uneasy. She didn't like seeing him this way; this made him seem less immortal, and it hit her that just because he was a vampire didn't mean he couldn't be taken away from her.

"Come on." She helped him sit up and she moved her hair to the side, exposing her neck. "Drink."

"Becca . . ."

"You need to heal. Drink."

She put her hand on the back of his neck and waited for him to lean in - she wasn't going to force him. She knew what to expect so she was completely relaxed. In a less desperate situation Damon probably would've eased her into it, but he needed her blood now. He was still gentle, though, when he bit down. Or as gentle as someone could be when they were trying to bite through skin. It wasn't bad, the few seconds of pain the bite caused; Rebecca thought it was well worth it as long as it made Damon stop hurting.

During the bite, Damon monitored her heartbeat very closely. He was hurt, so he needed more than usual so he could heal properly, but he wasn't going to take so much that it would risk hurting her either. He'd made that mistake before; he wasn't going to make it again. He was just glad that Rebecca didn't seem to mind this, didn't seem to be scared of it. Though God knew he'd given her a reason to be. And this . . . this was the moment Damon fell in love with Rebecca all over again.

Yes, he'd waited for her because he'd loved her and remembered her. But he hadn't been _in_ love with her in her absence - he'd remembered how it had made him feel, of course, but it was hard to be in love with something that wasn't there. But now, yeah, he was completely in love with her. He'd seen the best and the worst of her, her kindness, her strengths and her weaknesses. He knew she cared about him, _loved_ him even, and barely even noticed other guys around her. Aside from Jeremy - but she didn't _love_ Jeremy, not that way. She was completely, without a doubt, _his_. She belonged with him and he with her - they both knew it, both felt it.

They didn't have to be connected for him to believe it. They wouldn't have the freedom to be happy with anyone else.

* * *

Once Damon was done, and she felt his fangs retract, she took a few sips of blood from his wrist to heal herself. Damon didn't know it, but he was healing her back too, from where she'd slammed into his car.

She had never told Damon this, but she liked the feeling of intimacy the sharing of blood brought to her. She never felt closer to him then when part of her was in him and part of him was in her. If she had explained that to Damon, he would've had a dirty comment ready and waiting for her.

She stood up shakily and turned around to see if Damon needed help but stopped short when she saw a pile of bodies in the corner of the room

"Oh, God," she muttered, looking away. She had seen this, too, in her head. It was different, seeing it for real.

She wondered if Logan had done this on his own of if he'd had someone with him - the one who'd turned him, maybe. Now Rebecca _knew_ Logan had to die. He'd only been a human for about three weeks and he'd already killed about ten people, if not more.

She forced herself to look once more at the bodies and then she took out her phone and called the sheriff for the second time that day.

"Sheriff Forbes speaking."

"Hey, it's Rebecca. I wanted to let you know I know who the vampire is. Logan Fell. I found him, but he got away. He's staying in one of the old warehouses. I'm looking at a pile of bodies he's built up. It's pretty bad, Sheriff." She shook her head and sighed. "I just needed you to know that I didn't blow you off. I had a very good reason not to show up, but I _will_ be there shortly just in case."

"Thanks for the heads up," Liz said gratefully.

"No problem. See you soon."

She shook herself out of the semi state of shock the bodies had brought on and looked at Damon again.

"Come on, let's get you home. Your car's right outside."

"You stole my car?" Damon asked as they both went out the door.

"No. I borrowed it without permission. I didn't have my car and yours was available."

"Hm."

Rebecca pulled the gun she'd taken from Logan out and handed it to Damon, grimacing at the same time. "Here. I have no use for this. Have fun when you find him."

Damon smirked. "Well, I will now."

* * *

Once the two arrived at the boardinghouse they went to Damon's bedroom and he went to the little space that was the bathroom to change while Rebecca found the only shirt of hers that was there.

The time she'd been attacked by Damon was still fresh in her mind - since then Damon had obviously washed her clothes because the shirt didn't have a bloodstain on it. She changed her shirt and threw her other one on the floor in the corner - she would get it later. She had much more pressing issues to deal with.

Damon came out of the bathroom type space shirtless and on the phone. He was being candid so she assumed he was talking to Stefan. She was glad the two were getting along better now; she just didn't know how long it was going to last.

"Logan Fell is a vampire, and when I find him again I am going to destroy him limb by limb." . . . "No, I'm not okay. I was ambushed, I was shot, and now I'm vengeful. Just gotta find him." . . . "You're kidding me. Why the hell is he _there_?" . . . "Well, I'll be right there."

While Damon had been talking Rebecca had gotten a cool washcloth because she'd noticed that Damon still had blood on him and, even though he had drank from her, his wounds hadn't fully healed. He'd lost too much blood and he hadn't been able to get enough from her.

Damon looked extremely uncomfortable with the care she was providing, with the very genuine show of affection she was delivering, and he swallowed back the emotion it pulled from him. She knew he wasn't used to being taken care of so she smiled at him hoping to remove some of the tension he had suddenly built up.

"Nobody's here, Damon. They'll never know about his. You'll still be the bad-ass vampire that nobody should mess with."

He sat there stiffly while she took care of him, all the while feeling pathetic. He was supposed to be taking care of her, not the other way around. Call it part of his upbringing or whatever . . . woman weren't supposed to have to save their men.

"Do these still hurt badly?"

"Not so much; they'll heal. I just need a little more blood. I'll get it in a minute."

"You have some here?"

"Blood bags in the fridge."

"You get dressed. I'll go get it."

Damon did as she asked even though it was sort of in his nature to rebel - obviously that whole nature vs. nurture thing was coming into play here and because of Rebecca's nurturing, it was becoming part of Damon's nature to at least take what she said into consideration.

Within minutes, Rebecca was back with a glass and two blood bags. She looked a little awkward standing there, so Damon took them from her.

"Uh . . . I was going to heat it, but I didn't know if that would ruin it." She smiled softly. "98.6, right?"

Damon's breath hitched at the fact that she'd even given any thought to that. He liked fresh blood, which was warm, and she'd considered heating this just for him, because he _liked it that way_.

"This is fine." He smirked. "FYI, if you're going to heat blood, use the stove. Microwave causes all kinds of trouble."

She smiled, grateful for the information. She really hadn't known what to do.

"So, are these leftover from Lexi?"

"No, these are actually mine. Got them a few days ago. Human blood without the humans."

"Huh. You really do listen to me after all."

"Please. I did this to keep the Council off my back," Damon said in an offhand way.

"And you'd rather I not be angry with you," Rebecca said, smiling. "You were miserable that day in the car until you realized I was going to forgive you."

Rebecca didn't wait for Damon to contemplate that she found him that transparent. She just grabbed his arm and told him he could eat on the way.

* * *

Rebecca and Damon got to the school just in time for Stefan to tell them that Logan Fell had taken off with Caroline. Matt had told Stefan and Elena that Caroline had gotten a ride home from him.

"Yeah, they won't be reaching home," Rebecca said.

"We can track them," Stefan said, and she was surprised that he automatically included Damon in that.

"Okay, well. I'll stay here so I won't slow you down. If he shows back up here I'll give you a call."

With that, the brothers were off. Rebecca stuck close to Elena and they caught up. She learned that Caroline and Matt were hanging out; she learned that Jeremy and Tyler had been fighting again; she saw the new history teacher, Alaric Saltzman.

"Is he another Tanner?" Rebecca asked.

This Alaric was kind of cute in a way. He had a sort of boyish look to him even though he was a teacher. He was maybe in his early thirties. All Rebecca could tell from the distance she was observing from was that he had dirty blond hair styled in soft spikes. And his body was built like an athlete.

"He's actually pretty nice," Elena said. "He's helping Jeremy catch up. Jenna likes him."

"Oh. Okay.'

Rebecca sat down on a chair that lined the gym wall. Elena sat beside her and placed a hand on Rebecca's shoulder.

"You okay? You seem a little tired."

"Uh . . . yeah." Rebecca wondered if she should even continue, but she didn't like keeping things from her friends, so . . . "I gave Damon some blood. He was hurt, Elena, bad. He wouldn't have been able to get home without it. One of the reasons I stayed _here_ was because I have his blood in my system. Um . . . you know if anything happens while it's there . . ."

"Well, it's good that you stayed here then."

"Yeah. I'll be glad when I can go home and sleep, though."

* * *

Meanwhile, Stefan and Damon had found Caroline. She had a very bad bump on her head. Damon had told Stefan to get Caroline home and, surprisingly, his brother hadn't argued. He could get used to this Stefan.

Logan was on the ground in the middle of the road. Damon had shot him four times already, and it made him feel better.

"Payback's a bitch, isn't it?"

Logan had apparently been talking to Sheriff Forbes because her voice was coming from Logan's phone in his car. Damon let her know Caroline was okay and then told her where he was so she could come. Then he got a tire iron from the back and turned to a still writhing Logan.

"I'm gonna try this _one more time_," he said. "Who turned you?"

"I told you I don't know."

"This tire iron here could take your head _clean_ off. Is that your final answer?" He took a practice swing and got the satisfaction of seeing Logan flinch.

"How can you side with them?"

"I don't side with anyone. You pissed me off, I want you dead. Who turned you?"

"I don't _know_!"

"Oh, well, then you're screwed."

Damon began to swing, but then Logan said, "Wait! I do know!"

"You're lying." Granted, the guy had a good reason to lie.

"I'm not! There's someone else here, a vampire. She wants to get into that tomb underneath the old church."

Damon shook his head. "That's impossible. The crystal is gone. The tomb can't be opened."

"There's another way to break the spell."

"Hm." Now they were getting somewhere. "Who is _she_? Why does she want in?"

Logan shut his mouth and refused to speak so Damon actually used the tire iron to take Logan's head off. Logan mummified just like any other vampire would have if they'd been killed; only Logan's head had separated from his body.

Liz showed up and thanked him for helping again and then he loaded Logan in the trunk of Liz's car.

* * *

Back at the school Rebecca finally relaxed when Stefan got back and said that Caroline was safe at home and wouldn't remember anything except for Logan taking her home. Stefan had compelled her - or whatever was the equivalent of what Stefan could do. Caroline had been knocked unconscious, courtesy of Logan Fell. Damon was taking care of Logan as they spoke; Stefan had been responsible for getting Caroline home.

"So I can go home?" Rebecca asked.

"Yeah, everything's good."

"Okay. I'm just gonna take Damon's car. I'll park it down the street from my house so he can pick it up later."

She told Elena good-bye and headed out to Damon's car but she was stopped by Jeremy, who had a bloody nose.

"What happened?" she asked, taking him by the chin and moving his face so she could see better. "Tyler?" She'd known they'd been fighting but . . . Jeeze. "He hit you. Recently."

"Yeah. I tried to talk to him, just to talk, and he hit me."

"Hm. Tyler needs me to kick his ass," Rebecca muttered. And she probably could now, if she really wanted to.

And this . . . this was why her and Tyler would never have worked out. He liked to hit things, or people, a _lot_. Tyler had a serious temper and sometimes it was over the stupidest stuff.

She noticed when Jeremy looked at her like she'd grown an extra head. "Don't even think about it. You'd get hurt. I really don't think he'd care that you're a girl. Don't start anything with him."

"Well . . . that's all the more reason to kick his ass." She dabbed the blood away with the sleeve of her jacket. "Do you need a ride home?"

"No. Jenna's here somewhere. Probably hitting on Mr. Saltzman."

"The new history teacher? Yeah, I saw him earlier. Elena said he's helping you catch up?"

"I'm doing an extra credit paper. Civil War in Mystic Falls. I found an old journal of an ancestor, Johnathan Gilbert. He's kind of a freak show. Jenna said he wrote fiction. Vampires, demons and the like."

"Vampires? Really?" Her voice rose higher with the false casualness she'd wanted to give off, so she cleared her throat to play it off. "Uh . . . Anyway, I'm extremely tired, so . . . I'll see you around, Jer. If you need help with your paper let me know. I learned a lot from Damon. His family was around back then too."

"Damon? Stefan's brother?"

"Mm-hm."

Jeremy grinned playfully. "You two an item now?"

"Stop teasing. But we're together, yes."

"Ooh, have you kissed yet?" he made his voice higher, pretending to be a gossip queen.

"We have kissed _a lot_. Now stop it. I mean it."

"I wondered what was up. You've seemed happier lately."

"He's fun. It's hard to not be happy when he's around. And Damon is very complex, but . . . I think he's happy too. For the most part."

"He better be happy. You spoil the people you care about. And he better not take advantage of you."

She tried to imagine Jeremy going after Damon for hurting her and almost shuddered. Best case scenario, Damon would let him land a few blows because Damon would think he deserved it. Worst case scenario . . . Well, she didn't want to think about it.

* * *

Later that night Damon came by Rebecca's house to tell her about Logan, that he'd been disposed of. When he told her about the tombed vampires she just groaned and said, "Not tonight, Damon. Please. Too many problems, not enough head space."

Damon smiled and didn't say anything else about that; he knew what she meant because he'd felt that way himself hundreds of times.

He didn't plan on spending the night - the door was broken in for some reason, but when he asked about it she didn't say anything; she looked away and he knew she was hiding something from him.

He was seated on the bed with her, and Chelsea was sitting between them. Damon knew he'd been - and sort of felt bad for - ignoring Chelsea, but . . . he didn't know how to act with children; he had no experience with them. What if he did something wrong or hurt her or something. Humans were fragile anyway, but especially babies.

But Chelsea didn't seem afraid of him. In fact, the girl was playing with his fingers. Well, the finger that had his ring on it anyway. The baby was babbling about things and was repeating things they said. They were just words, but they sounded like coos. Baby talk.

When he saw Rebecca looking at him letting Chelsea play with his hand he almost took his hand away, but making Chelsea cry would not have been the least bit helpful.

"She can say your name too, if you want her to." Rebecca smiled. "Well, not your full name, but the first part."

"She can say Damon?" he asked.

"Well . . ."

"Day," Chelsea said, repeating the word she heard.

"She says that instead," Rebecca said. "She sometimes says it on the nights you don't come. I think she's gotten used to you being a part of her life even though you don't do anything with her."

Damon looked at the baby girl anew. He'd barely paid attention to her and yet . . . she liked him being here. She wanted him around.

"I'm not . . . good with children. I've never really . . ."

Rebecca picked Chelsea up and put her on his lap and Damon froze for a second. "Becca . . ."

"It's easy. Just pick her up."

"Up!" Chelsea repeated, holding her arms up like she was demanding to be held. "Up!"

Okay, okay . . . he could pick a baby up. How hard could it be?

He put his hands on either side of her, under her arms, and lifted. He brought her to him slowly, and Chelsea seemed to know how important this moment was because she didn't move much. Things were good and he thought he could get used to it - maybe. She was so . . . little and vulnerable and he really could hurt her without meaning to.

Then she said his name again, and she giggled. It seemed Chelsea had been waiting patiently for him to do this. Damon didn't know what to think about that. And now she was giggling in his arms, like she was laughing at him for taking so long and making such a big deal about it.

"You know, this totally ruins my tough guy image."

"I won't tell," Rebecca said softly, smiling.

Then . . . Chelsea pulled his hair. It didn't hurt, of course, but, hey . . . Both Rebecca and Chelsea got a kick out of a baby besting Damon Salvatore, but Rebecca wisely didn't say anything out loud about it. Damon did say they would have to get her out of that. And, yes, he'd said _they_ before he'd really thought about it.

But taking care of Chelsea became a _they_ thing that night. Rebecca didn't have to do it on her own.

* * *

Okay, this is a little shorter than my previous offerings, but . . . oh, well. I honestly don't know how Damon would be around a baby, so I just went with him feeling a little awkward and uncomfortable because that's one thing he doesn't have any experience with.

Leave me a review? Hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	34. Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Damon and Rebecca filled Stefan and Elena in on the vampire problem, and she and Damon both felt it would be easier if Stefan and Elena stayed out of it. Rebecca just hadn't wanted to keep things from them. She might tell Bonnie herself because Bonnie would be able to handle it better. It had been two days since the Career Fair and things had been quiet, thankfully; Rebecca got some of the peace she'd wanted. She'd taken the portrait of Damon's mom to get it restored in Richmond. Her dad had suggested either a museum or an art gallery.

She didn't know exactly how Damon would react, but she did know he had loved his mother and had resented his dad for removing her things from the public eye. Damon probably wouldn't _say_ it, but he would appreciate the gesture, Rebecca was sure. She was planning on giving it to him whenever she got it back. It was rightfully his, after all.

Rebecca had been training again, and she found it simpler now that she had placed Diana in the business category of her friends catalog. If Diana could even be considered a friend. Friends don't usually make plots that can get other friends killed. They had moved past the physical stuff - though she still trained to up her endurance - and had gone on to weapons training. Crossbows and things like that.

Two days after Damon and Rebecca filled Stefan and Elena in on the vampire situation . . . Elena found out that she looked like Katherine - exact carbon copy, only Elena wasn't an evil bitch monster of death. On top of that, though, Elena had a vampire stalker.

Rebecca, being the type of person that tended to not be happy because the people she cared about weren't happy, took it upon herself to help Elena with her problem; the stalker one, not the Stefan one. That was none of her business, though she was a little pissed that Stefan hadn't told Elena _before. _And Stefan hadn't even _told_ her, Elena had found a picture of Katherine from 1864.

Elena had been at the boardinghouse and she had _slept_ with Stefan before she'd found the picture. That was what was really wrong with Elena; she didn't understand why she and Katherine looked alike and she didn't know what she was to Stefan now. Was she just a replacement? And why had he slept with her without telling her?

Not only that, but Bonnie had freaked out when Rebecca had said someone wanted the tomb open, and now Bonnie's powers were going . . . well, they weren't going anywhere because they weren't working at all now.

So she had a distraught Elena and a scared little Bonnie to deal with. Elena was actually staying with Rebecca because Stefan hadn't been invited into Rebecca's house, and Stefan _really_ wanted to talk to Elena. Plus, Rebecca couldn't watch Elena all the time if she wasn't there to watch. Stefan was going crazy with worry and he was anxious to explain about Katherine, which Rebecca thought he should've done in the first place. Stefan even cornered Rebecca at the library to see if Elena was okay. She wasn't accepting his calls.

"She's hurt and confused," Rebecca said bluntly. "And you need to leave her alone. She'll come to you when she's ready."

"I just . . . I need to explain."

"Explain what? You lied to her, Stefan. Or omitted the truth, anyway. She's mad at you and you deserve it. Now, I have to go, I'm meeting Jeremy here. I'm helping him with a paper."

Rebecca had received her diploma already, so she didn't have to worry about her own tests or anything. She went upstairs and went into a work room and automatically knew there was a vampire there. In broad daylight - a day walker who wasn't Damon or Stefan.

"Great," she muttered.

She would've ignored the feeling if it hadn't led her to Jeremy, who was talking to a dark haired girl. A girl that was a vampire. Rebecca saw the girl stiffen slightly, but, other than that, she'd given no hint that she knew Rebecca was there.

Rebecca's phone vibrated and she saw it was Elena calling. She hit _ignore_ - she didn't want to talk about Stefan. The phone vibrated again, only this time it was Damon. Well . . . she could watch Jeremy and the vampire from here.

"Hello?"

"Ha, I knew you'd answer _my_ phone call."

"What?"

"You ignored Elena's and you answered mine. She's giving you a death glare, by the way."

"You're with Elena?" She sighed. "You didn't let her leave the house, did you?"

"Nope. I'm here. I'm giving her vampire lessons."

"You're what?"

"Teaching her about vampires, since Stefan won't do it."

"Huh." God, she hoped he wasn't talking in front of Chelsea. Rebecca had left her sister with Elena, so . . . it was very possible that Damon was speaking in front of her. "Speaking of Stefan, tell your brother to leave me alone. He knows Elena is staying with me so he followed me and kept asking me about her. It's annoying but he's not doing anything wrong, so I can't hurt him.

Rebecca looked over at Jeremy's table - he seemed to be having a nice conversation with whoever he was talking to.

"So, uh, interesting news. I met another vampire -" she whispered the V word "- and she was walking around in the daylight, which means she has lapis lazuli on her somewhere."

"Who is she?"

"Didn't get a good look." She wasn't lying; she hadn't gotten a good look, but she was going to. "I'm gonna do some digging and then I'll call you back."

"I'll be waiting."

"Mm-hm."

After she hung up she casually went to Jeremy's table and sat down - he _had_ asked her to meet him there, after all. She finally saw the girl's face and Rebecca realized she knew this vampire from 1864. Annabelle, Pearl's daughter. Pearl, who was in the tomb. Rebecca had thought Anna had been captured, too, but apparently not.

"Hey, Jer. Who's your friend?" Rebecca sounded casual enough, but Anna was eyeing her. Rebecca _really_ wanted to know what Anna wanted with Jeremy. How long had they known each other? Did they like each other?

"This is Anna. Anna, this is Rebecca. She's helping me with my paper."

"Really?" Anna's voice was falsely innocent. "Know much about vampires, do you?"

"You're doing a paper on vampires? I thought you were doing it on the Civil War."

"Well, the journal I found talked about them like they were real. I know it's just crazy but it's really interesting."

"You know, my great-grandfather actually showed me a journal once of an ancestor, and he had written all this creepy stuff about vampires. It was actually really believable," Anna said.

"A journal like Jonathan Gilbert's?" Rebecca asked.

God, but Anna looked innocent. Rebecca had even liked Anna back in 1864, so she hoped that Anna wasn't going to cause trouble. But Rebecca had the sinking suspicion that Anna wanted the tomb open, that Anna had been the one to change Logan. And Rebecca couldn't risk all of the vampires getting out.

"Yes. Exactly."

The last time Rebecca had seen Anna, her dark hair had been straight and it was now in messy waves. Her face was still misleadingly innocent even though she could kill someone in an instant if she wanted.

"Anyway, I really have to get home, so . . ."

Anna walked off and Rebecca excused herself. She met Anna outside the library - Anna had been waiting, obviously.

"What do you want with Jeremy?" Rebecca asked outright.

The two girls were in the back of the library now, so they could talk freely. Only Anna didn't seem to be in a talkative mood.

"I know you want the tomb opened, Anna. What does Jeremy have to do with it?"

"I need his ancestor's journal. I want my mother back."

Rebecca could tell Anna really did want Pearl back and Rebecca felt bad for her, she _did_, but the tomb couldn't be opened.

"You think Jonathan's journal can help you, that's why you were talking to Jeremy."

Anna casually brought up a fact that made Rebecca's blood run cold. "I just want my mother back. _And_ -" Anna shoved Rebecca against the wall but didn't use enough pressure to hurt her "- if you get in the way of what I want, of me getting my mom, I will take something of yours away. And believe me, it can be done."

Rebecca's eyes hardened. "You touch _anyone_ I care about, I will _kill_ you. You can't free all the vampires, Anna."

A flicker of confusion passed in Anna's brown eyes. "I'm not _going_ to free them. I just want my mother back. The others can stay there and rot for the rest of eternity for all I care." Anna let her go, smiled innocently, and said, "Have a nice day."

Rebecca knew she wouldn't be able to follow Anna because Anna had vampire speed and _she_ didn't.

* * *

After Rebecca helped Jeremy she gave him a ride home because she didn't want any surprise attacks from Anna. She really hoped Anna didn't follow through on her threat because Rebecca didn't want to have to kill Anna. Anna was just a girl who wanted her mother back; Rebecca knew how that felt.

Once she got to her own house she saw that her dad had a bag packed - he'd been waiting for her to get home.

"Uh, where're you going?"

"I have this conference thing in Richmond to attend. It's an all weekend thing so I made reservations at a hotel. Since Elena's here I figured you'd want to stay."

What Robert _probably_ meant was that she would want to stay because Damon was there.

Rebecca nodded and handed the car keys over. "A'right. Stay safe."

She watched her dad drive away and then she hurried into the house. Damon was sitting in the living room and Elena was in the kitchen talking on the phone. Rebecca pointed toward the kitchen and Damon mouthed the word _Stefan_.

"Ah, hopefully they work it out or call it quits for good, because him following me around asking me to 'please talk to Elena' is bugging the hell out of me." Without even stopping to breathe, Rebecca said, "And you and I need to talk after Elena goes home. I found the vampire who wants to open the tomb."

"Who?"

"Annabelle. You remember her?"

"Of course."

"Yeah, well, it's her. She wants her mom back." Rebecca looked toward the kitchen as Elena came in the living room. "Did you work it out? And where is Chelsea?"

"No, we didn't, and Chelsea is at the store with Tina. Baby food, I think." Elena sat on the couch beside Damon, and Rebecca was pleased to see that Elena didn't fuss about it. "Stefan promised no more lies, and now this."

Rebecca nodded. She thought Elena could sometimes be a drama queen, but this -_ this_ - she got.

"When you told me that Stefan had explained about Katherine I thought that meant he'd told you this too." Rebecca sat on the floor and leaned back against Damon's legs. "If I had known you didn't know, I would've told you myself."

"How'd you find out anyway?" Damon asked.

"A picture from 1864. Found it on the table in Stefan's bedroom."

Rebecca hadn't told him that. That would've been going against the friend code that she had with Elena and Bonnie.

"Hm."

The first questions that popped into Rebecca's head were: Why did Stefan have a picture of Katherine? Why would he have kept it? Why would he have wanted to?

"Do you know how I'm connected to Katherine? Why do I look like her?"

"My guess would be you're probably related," Rebecca said. "Somehow."

"Did Stefan think that he could use me to replace her?"

"It's kinda creepy if you ask me," Damon said, and Rebecca hid a grin by looking down.

When Rebecca could control her face again she looked up and repeated what Stefan had told her. That the resemblance was what had drawn him in but that he loved _Elena_. It had nothing to do with Katherine because Elena wasn't like Katherine.

"And you're prettier," Rebecca added on her own.

"What? We look exactly alike."

"There are subtle differences," Damon said.

"Like?"

"Your smile is wider, your eyes are the same color but yours are warmer, and your face is thinner," Rebecca said. "And you're not a raging bitch."

"What am I supposed to do? I can't just . . . ignore this."

"So don't," Rebecca said. "Stefan messed up, he knows he messed up. I think guilt is its own punishment right now."

"And no one does guilt better than Stefan," Damon said.

"Talk to him, ask him what he knows," Rebecca said. "Make him talk to you. If he loves you like he says he does then he'll talk to you, okay? He'll tell the truth."

"And she's tired of having to babysit you all the time," Damon teased while also telling the truth.

"I am not!" Rebecca denied, though, in all reality, she sort of was. She hated having to be on guard around Elena all the time.

Elena, though, didn't get mad. Apparently she'd either begun to tolerate Damon or she'd learned how to tell when he was being serious and when he wasn't.

"Why don't we go out?" Rebecca suggested. "I mean, having fun is just what you need, Elena. We can go somewhere Stefan won't find you. You can loosen up and think about it in the morning, okay?"

"Uh . . ." Elena looked uncertain and Rebecca nodded encouragingly. The brunette relented and smiled. "Fine. Where do you wanna go?"

Rebecca looked at Damon, who arched a brow, and she said, "Can we go back to that club? Dance, drink, have a good time. You can piss Stefan off because Elena's hanging out with you . . ."

"Well, hell, you know I'm in."

Even Elena had a small smile for that one.

* * *

An hour and a half later the three were at the club and, since this wasn't a date, Rebecca was dressed casually. Jeans, T-shirt, and a jacket. Elena had had a drink or two already but Rebecca stuck with soda - she remembered what had happened the last time they'd come here. She would stay sober this time.

Being with Elena when she was tipsy reminded Rebecca of times before Elena's parents had died; Elena had been more fun then.

Damon, Elena, and Rebecca danced together on the floor - with Damon in the middle. Sometimes Elena and Rebecca would dance without Damon, back to back with hips swaying from side to side. Sometimes one girl would swirl the other one and they would laugh and go back to dancing back to back.

Damon watched the two girls from the bar and thought idly that he was glad Rebecca was having fun with Elena. Rebecca wasn't happy when she and her friends were on the outs. And Elena had lightened up because of the alcohol flowing through her system; she even seemed to be getting used to him. Which meant Rebecca would be happier because . . . Damon knew that most of the friction that had been between Rebecca and her friends was because of him. He also knew that Rebecca had known that and she'd still chosen to be with him. She'd risked her friendships for him . . . to be with him.

Rebecca suddenly sat beside him without Elena; Rebecca said that Elena had said that nature had called. Rebecca ordered another soda and began sipping, waiting for her dancing partner to return. Damon noticed that her face and neck were flushed from exertion and he had to keep himself from moaning at the sight.

"So . . . are you sending me home tonight?" Damon asked, smirking.

Rebecca smiled and looked up from underneath her lashes.

"I was under the impression that no on could _send_ you anywhere. You either go or you don't depending on whether or not you want to." Then more seriously, "You can stay if you want. I'd like you to stay, but Elena will be there - I can't send her home when she's drunk."

"Well, she's not gonna be in your room, so I'm sure she won't be a problem."

She looked at him suspiciously. "My rule still stands, you know."

"I realize that. Your mind jumped ahead, not mine. You just assumed I meant -"

"You _did_; you just didn't say it."

Damon shrugged, giving her that one. Couldn't hurt to try, right?

"I'm gonna go check on Elena . . . see if she fell in." Rebecca shook her head and chuckled. "She's drunk, so it's very possible."

That was the beginning of how she'd found herself outside with Elena and another vampire. Rebecca had stepped into the ladies room, found Elena being sort of attacked by the vampire. She'd tried to help, but she couldn't without endangering Elena, so they both ended up being dragged out of the bathroom window. She'd had to be knocked unconscious because Rebecca wasn't going anywhere without a fight.

When she woke up they were in a dark place . . . and the vampire was making sure she was okay.

"Uh," she groaned. Why go through all the trouble of kidnapping her if he was just going to make sure she was okay?

"I'm sorry. You weren't meant to get hurt. I'm not here for you."

"Mm." Rebecca found it hurt to move her jaw to talk. She wasn't tied up, though, so she reached up and touched it gently. Nothing was broken, just bruised. "Elena?"

"I'm here," came a timid response. "I'm okay. He's not here for me either."

Rebecca sat up and began trying to make out things in the dark. She saw Elena wasn't that far away.

To the vampire, Rebecca said, "What d'you want? Who are you?"

"You and the girl will be fine. I'm not here for either of you." _Damon_. He was here for Damon? "I'll come back for you after I'm done."

"No," Rebecca said, struggling to get her bearings. "No. Leave him alone."

She was yanked to her feet and it jarred her a little. "Don't make me hurt you."

"Then don't hurt him. Take me, but leave him alone."

"You . . . you love him."

Rebecca didn't answer because it was obvious. Then he jerked her forward, making her head burst with pain.

"Then come with me. He took something from me; I'm going to take something from him, and I'm going to make him watch."

"Elena!"

"I'll come back for her."

"No. If you hurt me, you won't be alive to come back for her."

* * *

Damon had arrived at an old abandoned gas station. The connection between Rebecca and himself had led him there - damn useful, it was. She was in trouble _again_ - what was it with that club? Every time they went there something bad happened. It was cursed.

Damon showed up right as Rebecca was being shoved out of the building by some man. Obviously a vampire or he wouldn't have gotten the jump on Rebecca so easily. Rebecca had a bruise on the side of her face and her eyes were slightly unfocused - she had a concussion. _Great_.

"You're going to want to let her go," Damon stated simply, already thinking of ways to end this horribly stupid situation.

"Damon," Rebecca said, and even her voice sounded weak. He knew it was just the head wound but it still worried him.

"It's okay. You're gonna be okay."

"No, she's really not."

The guy bit into his own wrist and forced Rebecca's mouth open so the blood would go into her. Rebecca considered not swallowing but she realized that she needed to heal in case Damon needed help. And . . . why was this guy giving her blood? He was planning on killing her, wasn't he? Did he _want_ her turned, then?

Damon, however, was furious. Whatever this guy was up to, whatever he wanted, it didn't amuse Damon at all.

"Who are you?" Damon asked. He was just going to keep him talking until he could come up with a plan. One that didn't involve Rebecca dying and coming back as a vampire. Because he was sure that was what this guy was aiming for.

"That's perfect. You don't even know. You killed my girlfriend."

"I've killed lots of people's girlfriends," Damon said, but he didn't find it funny. Seeing the predicament he was in . . . it wasn't funny at all. "If _I_ killed your girlfriend leave her alone and deal with _me_."

Rebecca finally got it. _Lexi_. This was Lexi's boyfriend, and he'd heard about Damon killing her, of course.

"How did you find us?" she asked. "Did you . . . were you in Mystic Falls?"

"Saw him leaving your house, followed you here. I knew I could draw him out with you. And I drew _you_ out with Elena."

Rebecca closed her eyes and got her thoughts together. They'd been played - both of them. And this vampire . . . he had every right to want revenge, and Rebecca was sure if it had been any other person besides Damon she would've let him have it. But she couldn't . . . not with him.

"I'm sorry about Lexi. I liked her and . . . Damon shouldn't have killed her, but hurting him won't make it right. It won't bring her back, so I'm sorry."

Thanking her Slayer training she brought her leg up and kicked high enough to reach over her own head and to the spot the vampire was. She realized she didn't know the name of this guy, and she figured that it was better that way.

As soon as she was out of his grasp Damon blurred up to the guy, Rebecca got a stake that had been strapped to her calf, threw it to Damon, and then the vampire was no more. Problem solved, Rebecca fell to her knees and began vomiting. She couldn't help it, really. Her head still hurt even though she had blood in her system. Or she _had_ had it. Now it was on the ground in front of her. It obviously hadn't settled well - maybe because it had been forced on her.

_Ew_, she thought.

Before she could even get her breath back her world swirled and then faded to black.

Damon, having watched with worry as Rebecca had rid herself of the vampire blood in her system, blurred to her side as she fainted.

_Uh-oh_, was his first thought. It seemed Rebecca had finally succumbed to the stress she'd been feeling lately. She was lucky she'd only fainted; Damon had thought she'd been heading toward a breakdown. Add that in with her previously existing head wound and then the fighting and she'd become physically sick.

Damon knew Rebecca would wake up when she was ready, so he picked her up and went to the building Rebecca had come out of. Elena was still in there. Damon could see just fine even in the darkness. Given this was an old building, there was no electricity.

"Elena?" She was on the floor and _she_ wasn't hurt at least. "Watch Rebecca, okay? The vampire is gone, but I have to go get my car so we can get out of here."

Elena nodded in his direction and agreed vocally. "Just hurry back."

As he raced back to his car he found he had a dilemma. The vampire tonight had come after Rebecca because of him, because he'd killed someone and had pissed off someone else. He'd pissed off a lot of people in his life, which was why he didn't like to leave people alive; they would always come back for revenge.

But this . . . this was his fault. He'd put Rebecca in danger because of his stupid scheme to throw suspicion off of himself. He still wasn't willing to leave, though. Stefan probably would've, but Damon wasn't Stefan. Damon knew what he wanted and he finally had it - he planned on enjoying it while it lasted, while Rebecca wanted this with him. He'd enjoy it until Rebecca realized what a mistake it was, being with him.

* * *

Back at the gas station, Rebecca awoke just as Damon came back inside. She got up with his help and found she felt really out of whack. Her head was pounding and she was shaky and she still felt a little nauseous.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Elena asked uncertainly.

"She'll be fine," Damon said. "That guy fed her his blood and it made her sick."

"But . . . she's drank your blood before. What's the difference?"

"Well, obviously I taste better," Damon snapped. "I don't know, Elena. I think she was feeling sick before because of the head injury. Then the fainting spell. She's just feeling weak."

She _was_ feeling weak or else she would've been mad that they were talking about her like she wasn't there. She also would've told Damon not to talk to Elena that way; she hadn't done anything wrong. But she also knew Damon was worried, and a worried Damon could quickly become an angry Damon because anger was easier to deal with for him.

"Can we go home?" she asked.

Damon picked her up again and she looped her arms around his neck.

"Yeah, we can go home."

"Okay, good. Did you get -"

"He's in the trunk."

"Oh. My head hurts."

"Well, obviously the blood didn't heal you all the way. If you still have a concussion you shouldn't sleep, at least not until you get home."

But her eyes were already drooping and he had to jar her awake. Hopefully she wouldn't get angry - but if she did, she'd get over it once she felt better. He put Rebecca in the backseat of the car and then told Elena to get in with her and keep her awake.

He would've given Rebecca blood from him but it seemed a little pointless seeing as to how she'd just thrown up. If it wasn't going to stay down there was no use in trying to make her drink.

* * *

Once they got to Rebecca's house Damon put her in bed and gave her water to sip - if that stayed down they would try the blood. Elena made sure he had everything under control and then made her way to the guest room.

Chelsea was already asleep and Tina wasn't a problem because it was late enough for her to be in bed too _and_ Damon had compelled her not to be nosy.

"You said you wanted to talk about Anna," Damon said. "And you can't go to sleep, so talk."

"Mm . . . she threatened someone, no one specific. She said if I get in the way of her plan to get her mom back that she would take someone away from me."

Rebecca tried to sound invested in the conversation, but she couldn't. Her head was hurting, she felt like she was going to be sick again and she just wanted to sleep.

"She was with Jeremy - she thinks one of Jonathan's journals will help her out. She brought it up to Jeremy and I figured it out."

"Do you know where she's staying?"

"No." Rebecca shook her head, jarring it, and winced. "Ow."

She realized that it wasn't the outside that hurt; it was on the inside and that couldn't be good. But she didn't complain - pain was a part of life and she would have to bear it.

"Anna took off with her vampire speed and I don't have that, so . . ."

"Right."

Too keep herself awake Rebecca watched the Resident Evil series, and Damon found it amusing that Rebecca had to cover her eyes at some parts. She couldn't watch a man get sliced into pieces, for instance. The second one was fine, but during the third one she had to recover her eyes when the birds attacked and pecked someone to death.

By the time the third movie was over Rebecca was sound asleep; she'd shown signs of outward swelling, which meant there was no inward swelling, and so he just let her sleep. But he _did_ remove her necklace and, feeling only a little bit of guilt, compelled her to swallow his blood even though she was asleep.

* * *

Okay, so a lot has changed here. For instance, Elena didn't have a car accident. And Damon didn't have to save her and he didn't have to take her to Georgia. Damon didn't have a need to go to Georgia in this because he's not trying to get into the tomb. And then Lexi's boyfriend died here when he didn't in the show. I just figured I'd put him out of his misery. He became a vampire for Lexi and now that Lexi's dead . . . rather than being miserable for the rest of his life, I just made them kill him.

Anyway . . . leave me a review, let me know what you think.


	35. Chapter 30

Okay, so I start work on the 5th of next month so I'll maybe have three more updates before then, after that it'll probably be slower than it is now because I still don't know how many hours a week I'll be working.

Enjoy!

Warning: There's a little bit of citrus in this chapter. If you don't want to read the citrus-y part then skip it. LOL. If you don't find it offensive than, please, enjoy.

Chapter Thirty

A few days went by and Rebecca's dad came back. Rebecca felt better and Damon confessed to giving her blood in her sleep. She'd sort of figured that out for herself because she'd woken up the day after her concussion and had felt fine. Her Slayer healing wouldn't have fixed her _that_ well.

Rebecca was with Bonnie at the moment, with Bonnie's Grams. Rebecca was trying to help Bonnie find a way to get her groove back - in other words, Bonnie's powers were still AWOL. Rebecca apologized for bringing Bonnie into it. She'd hadn't known Bonnie would react this way. She'd thought Bonnie, being a witch, would be okay with everything. Vampires, Vampire Slayer, all of it.

"It scares me, what they are. What I am," Bonnie admitted.

"Do I scare you?" Rebecca asked softly, wanting to know if she did and if so, why.

"No, you're still . . . you're still Rebecca."

"Well, you're still Bonnie. It doesn't matter to me that you can move things with your mind now, or make feathers float. It doesn't change who you are, not if you don't let it."

Rebecca was a strict believer of things not changing people - not deep down - if said people didn't _let_ things change them. It didn't matter if they were human or something other than human; the belief remained the same.

"Right."

Bonnie took a deep breath and focused on the unlit candle in front of her but the flame wouldn't come.

"Maybe you're trying too hard," Rebecca suggested.

"Or maybe I've lost my powers for now," Bonnie said. "Look . . . I know that you and Elena are okay with all of this stuff - vampires, and being friends with them, but I'm just not ready to get into this with you guys just yet."

Rebecca listened to Bonnie. It was true that Bonnie had been fine until Emily and the vampires. _The vampires_. Bonnie looked down, ashamed.

"You're worried about the vampires."

"Well . . . Damon's homicidal, and Stefan is . . . I don't know, he seems okay, but at the end of the day . . . I'm still considered a food source, ya know? Plus, the tomb and . . . If they get out."

"They won't, okay. We'll prevent that from happening."

* * *

Rebecca and Bonnie ended up at the remains of old Fell's Church where Emily had taken Bonnie in her dreams and when she'd been possessed. Grams had told Bonnie that in order for her to get her powers back she needed to face her fears. Her fear was blocking her from using them. So there Bonnie and Rebecca were, walking in the woods - Rebecca had to admit they were creepy - when suddenly the ground gave way and both girls hit the bottom with a thud.

Rebecca was okay; she'd landed in a way that hadn't hurt too badly. But Bonnie had landed on her side and a stone had landed on her leg, and she'd hit her head.

Rebecca removed the rock and then cleaned the cut on Bonnie's head with her sleeve. There wasn't too much blood, so Rebecca hoped it wasn't too bad.

"Bonnie?" She got a 'mm' as a response. "Can you see straight?" Rebecca asked, and Bonnie nodded. "What about your leg? Can you move it?"

"Mm."

Rebecca helped Bonnie stand and was relieved to find that Bonnie could move around on her own. Sensing that Bonnie was physically okay Rebecca was able to assess the situation now. All around them, in _every_ direction, were stones. They were under the church, outside of the tomb. They'd fallen at least thirty feet, and it was a miracle Bonnie hadn't been hurt worse. It was still daylight, so they had some light to see with, but that would change in a couple hours. The sun would go down.

"Can you jump it?" Bonnie asked, gesturing upwards to where the hole began.

"Uh-uh. There's no way. The ground isn't stable enough up there."

"Well, then how're we going to get out?" Bonnie's voice was laced with hysteria.

"Um . . ." Rebecca tried to stay calm so Bonnie would stay calm. "You try your cell phone, okay? I'm gonna cut mine off just in case we're here longer than your battery lasts. That way we'll at least have some light tonight."

"You really think we'll be here that long?" Bonnie asked softly.

Rebecca shrugged. "I don't know. It's possible, I guess. But it doesn't matter because someone will come looking for us. Damon has this thing where he can tell when I'm in trouble so if worse comes to worst, he'll come get us."

"Oh." Bonnie seemed somewhat relieved by that.

As Bonnie began walking around trying to get a cell signal Rebecca began pulling on the stones in the walls around them, pulling out the loose ones and leaving the not loose ones in place. She was trying to make a sort of step ladder.

Every couple of minutes Rebecca had to rest, though, and then she said playfully, "You know, it wouldn't physically kill you to give me a hand here."

Bonnie smiled though her heart wasn't in it. "Sorry. I was trying to find a spot where the phone would work. No such luck."

"Hm."

Rebecca went back to work and she was going to mention the helping thing again but she noticed that Bonnie was staring at the door to the tomb. There was a pentagram carved into the stone and Bonnie was entranced by it.

"Bonnie?"

"I can hear them in there," she whispered.

"You can hear them?" Rebecca didn't know how that was possible. The vampires were supposed to be immobile from dehydration and starvation now.

"Or . . . maybe the echoes or something. Maybe." Bonnie snapped out of it and looked at Rebecca. "Are they in pain?"

Rebecca shook her head. "Not now. They, um . . . they've been down there too long, and unless someone finds another way, they can't get out because the crystal's been destroyed."

Rebecca took a deep breath and said, "Come on. Let's get out of here and then we can talk, okay?"

Bonnie nodded, though she looked doubtful that they were going to get out.

"Hey, I'm Miss Resourceful, remember?" Bonnie smiled a little. "A'right, come on. Just watch my step, follow everything I do. I'll go first."

The going was slow. Some of the stones were too loose to use, some didn't have enough of a grip, and some were too slippery from mildew. And Bonnie kept looking down, which Rebecca told her not to do. Rebecca was a little nervous herself. She'd never been rock climbing before but this wasn't as safe as that. At least with rock climbing one had a harness. They didn't have anything to lessen the blow if they happened to slip now.

"Who needs an elevator, huh?" Rebecca quipped as she reached the top.

She grabbed Bonnie's arms and helped her through the opening. The ground was still shaky so they hurried away. Rebecca wondered if she should tell someone, like the mayor, about the ground here so it could be filled in, but then she figured they _shouldn't_ fill it in because that would involve humans getting way too close to the tomb for her liking.

* * *

Since Bonnie had driven them to the woods the car was there. Rebecca drove them back to Grams' house and the first thing they did was take a shower. Falling through the ground was bound to leave anyone dirty.

"You look like you two have been through the wars," Grams said after they were both clean and refreshed.

Both Bonnie and Rebecca were exhausted and, on top of that, they had the shivers from being outside and underground in November. Grams fixed them hot cocoa and it helped a little. It helped them relax, at least. Bonnie explained what had happened and then she was just ready to sleep. Bonnie had decided to just crash at Grams', and Rebecca asked if Bonnie would cover for her if she were to spend the night with Damon. Bonnie reluctantly agreed, so Rebecca called Damon and he came to pick her up.

* * *

When Damon pulled up at Sheila Bennett's house Rebecca got in the car and he noticed how gingerly she was moving. The first thing that flashed through his mind was that she had obviously been in another fight. It wasn't too far fetched, right? She _was_ the Slayer, after all.

"Uh-oh. What did you do this time?"

"I fell," she answered, obviously knowing what he was talking about. "Thirty feet underground. Bonnie was with me; we both got pretty banged up but we're okay."

What the hell? "How'd you get underground?"

Rebecca told him about how she'd been helping Bonnie face her fears and they'd fallen through the ground near the tomb.

"Only in Mystic Falls," Damon muttered. "This looking out for you is beginning to be a full-time thing. I should be getting paid."

Rebecca shook her head. "I let you drink from me when you want to. You are getting paid. And besides, we did okay. We got out."

Damon, letting himself be expressive at the moment, said, "I'm . . . glad you weren't hurt."

"Me too," Rebecca said, smiling. "Anyway, I have something to ask you. Or two somethings, actually."

"Okay. Shoot."

"Um, the first is: Would you like to spend Thanksgiving with me and my family? We usually do dinner and dessert, stuff like that. I wouldn't have asked but I figured Stefan would be with Elena, and you shouldn't be alone on Thanksgiving. Because you don't have to be anymore."

Having someone care so deeply for him still made him itchy but he was getting used to it. Or _letting_ himself get used to it. And he had to admit, he didn't hate the idea of spending Thanksgiving with Rebecca and her family. He hadn't spent a holiday with someone he really cared about in so long he couldn't even remember when the last time had been.

"I would love to spend Thanksgiving with you and your family."

"Okay. And the second is . . . I would like to spend Thanksgiving night with you."

Damon looked at her suggestively and she looked away shyly. He watched her cheeks turn pink and smiled before focusing on the road. He loved making her blush; it proved that he got to her in ways that other men didn't. He'd never really seen her blush over anything that didn't involve him.

"Not for that. Pervert. I want to give you something, and I'd very much like to be there when you open it."

"You bought me something?"

"No. No money was spent to buy it, but I have something for you anyway." Technically she wasn't lying. She hadn't spent money to buy it, but she had spent money to get it back in good condition.

"What is it?"

"I'm not _telling_ you," Rebecca said. "That would ruin the surprise. And I promise it's not something that will jump out and attack you or anything like that. So just relax."

"Well, I'm gonna find out what it is."

"No, you won't. I don't have it on me, and I won't have it until I'm planning on giving it to you."

"I don't even get a hint?" Damon pretended to complain. He liked that she'd thought enough about him to get him something, whatever this something was, and he wouldn't pry anymore. He could take a surprise every now and then as long as it was a good one.

"Nope," Rebecca answered his question.

When they arrived at the boardinghouse they saw that Elena was there too, and she was talking to Bonnie on the phone. Apparently Elena and Stefan had made up, Rebecca mused. But it was so hard keeping up with those two. First Elena was in love, then she didn't want to be with him, then she wanted to be with him and he didn't want to be with her for her own good, and then they were fighting and now they'd made up, she guessed.

After Elena got off the phone she told Rebecca she'd been going to call her but, since Rebecca had been coming to the boardinghouse, she'd waited.

"Okay . . . so what's up?" Rebecca knew that unless the conversation called for some serious talking that Elena preferred texting.

"Come on," Stefan said, leading them all into the parlor. "We should sit down."

"Unless the world's ending, I think I can stand," Rebecca said. "What's going on?"

"You know how I never knew how I got out of my parent's car?" Elena asked. "The night of the accident?"

"Yeah. Everyone thought it was a miracle."

"Right. Stefan saved me. He was there. He heard the accident and he came."

"You pulled her out," Rebecca assumed. "And . . . her parents, you just left them there?"

Her voice held no accusation, just curiosity. She didn't understand why they were telling her all this. And how had Elena found out? Maybe Elena had finally taken Rebecca's advice and confronted Stefan about telling her the truth. But Rebecca hadn't known all this had gone on.

"Her father was conscious, but he wanted me to help Elena first," Stefan admitted. "I went back for them but it was too late. I couldn't save them."

Rebecca almost said something about the fact that if he fed like he was supposed to then he'd have been able to save all of them. Then a fact registered and Rebecca couldn't keep from speaking.

"You followed Elena around for four months and didn't think you should introduce yourself to her? That's creepy, Stefan, and also stalking." Then she looked at Damon. "You didn't . . . do that to me, did you?"

"No," Damon said, but his voice was strained and he looked kind of sheepish. "Well . . . not really. I checked on you sometimes, but no . . . I didn't actively follow you around. But we are predators, Becca, it's in our nature to stalk and protect the things we . . . think of as ours."

"Hm . . ." That still sounded creepy and stalker-ish, but . . . Damon had put it in terms that she understood. Vampires didn't see it as stalking; they saw it as taking care of what was theirs.

"Look, I had to make sure she wasn't Katherine," Stefan said.

"The fact that she is human wasn't enough for you?" Rebecca asked.

Damon watched, amused, as Rebecca pointed out Stefan's stupidity. Damon was glad he was with someone who realized Stefan wasn't as great as Stefan pretended to be.

"Elena, are you okay with that? With him following you around and stuff?"

"I . . . um . . ." Elena didn't answer directly. "That's not why we're here. That was just a lead in."

"Okay . . ." Oh, God, this sounded serious.

"After I rescued Elena I couldn't stop thinking about why she and Katherine looked alike. Elena's a Gilbert, Katherine was a Pierce. So I looked into it. And I found . . ."

"I was adopted," Elena spit out.

"Hm." Rebecca nodded. "I'll take that chair now."

Elena was adopted? Elena, who Rebecca had known since they were babies, was adopted? Wow. So . . .

God, what Elena must've been feeling. Elena's life had been a lie. Her parents weren't really her parents. Jeremy wasn't really her brother. Or not by blood. The bond was still there because of all the years they'd spent believing the lie, but . . . Poor Elena.

"You're related to Katherine somehow, like I thought?" Rebecca asked.

"We're not sure," Stefan said. "I couldn't look into the Pierce family without looking suspicious. But chances are . . . yeah."

"Oh . . . um . . . what am I supposed to do with this information?" Rebecca didn't know how she was supposed to respond. What exactly was Elena expecting right now? "It's not like it makes things any different. You're still Elena Gilbert to me."

"That wasn't what I was worried about," Elena admitted. "I was hoping you could get Diana to look up Katherine's family history, see if she - if she had a baby."

"Oh," Rebecca said. She glared playfully. "You wanna use me for information."

"Technically, I want to use your _Watcher_ for information."

Both Elena and Rebecca grinned, but Rebecca's grin faded quickly.

"I can try, I can, but I can't involve Diana. If she researched Katherine then she would have to research Mystic Falls. That would lead her to Damon and Stefan, and I can't do that; I don't know how she'd react to that. I mean, the Watcher's Council isn't exactly pro-vampire. _But_ I have full access to her library, so I can look for you."

Elena nodded gratefully. "Thank you. I wouldn't have asked but you're the only one with the resources to do it."

"Yeah, it's no problem." Then Rebecca remembered something she could've smacked herself for forgetting. "What about the vampire that's stalking you now. Have you seen him again?"

The brunette shook her head.

"Oh. Best case scenario, he's been hurt and needs to regroup," Rebecca said.

"Worst case," Damon began, "he's plotting a very bad and painful ending for you."

"Not even remotely helpful, Damon," Stefan said, glaring at his brother.

"But not wrong," Rebecca said. "That was Damon's very blunt way of saying we need to be careful. With Anna and this other vampire running around we _all_ need to be careful. And we should get Jeremy, and everybody else who doesn't have any, some vervain. Jewelry or something. They're vulnerable and they could be used to get to any one of us."

"That's risky," Stefan said.

"Yeah, well, if I were going to hurt someone in a group, I would try to infiltrate said group - or compel someone to do it for me if I were a vampire. And, uh . . . Caroline wouldn't need to be compelled to spill about things we tell her. But it would be . . . problematic . . . for one of our friends to be made to spy on us."

"So . . . vervain," Elena said. "Can we get that?"

"They've been growing it," Rebecca said, nodding at Stefan and Damon.

Damon had been listening to Rebecca's plan for keeping her friends from being compelled and it made sense, he had to admit, but what worried him - not worried, because he didn't do worried - the most was that she had a seemingly devious mind. He'd apparently influenced her badly. He liked that she could distance herself and get a job done - at least she didn't emote until after a crisis was over - but it had just hit him that she had a strategic mindset, and the only thing stopping her from being just as bad as him was her humanity; that little annoying thing called a conscience kept her from acting on her impulses, her desires. He didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

* * *

The next morning Rebecca awoke to the feeling of Damon kissing down her cheek to her neck and collarbone and was amazed to find that it made her almost instantly wet. She didn't know if it was her, or Damon, or just Damon's mouth, but whatever it was she wasn't going to complain.

"Are you wanting something?" she asked.

"I need a reason to kiss you?" Damon asked against her skin, and she shivered.

"No, but you usually have one."

"Well, I don't today."

She wouldn't have cared if he did; she'd just been wondering. She was vaguely concerned with morning breath but soon forgot to be worried about anything as she got caught up in Damon. Soon, not even knowing how she'd gotten there, she was on her knees in front of Damon, who was now seated at the edge of the bed.

How had she gotten so caught up that she hadn't noticed him taking his clothes off? It wasn't compulsion - she had her vervain-filled necklace on. All it took for her to regain focus was for her to see Damon's obvious state of arousal. She was kind of intimidated by his size. She knew a woman's body was made to stretch and adjust . . . but, well, Damon was thick and long and, like she'd thought . . . intimidating. There was no way that he wouldn't kill her if he were to try and fit inside her someday. Right now, though, she had more important things to worry about.

She smiled up at Damon and pointed a finger at him. "You better warn me before . . ."

He half-smiled back with hooded eyes but nodded anyway. He'd do _anything_ if she would just touch him already. His breath hitched at the first touch of her tongue. She was tentative, he noticed, probably getting used to the taste of him and the feel of him. He realized, almost fondly, that she had to work up the nerve to do this, and he thought that if he was a better person he would stop her, but he _really_ wanted her to continue.

When she took him into her mouth insane desire began coursing through his veins and he was relieved to see she caught on quickly - or maybe she'd just done this before with someone else, not that he wanted to think about that; it made him a little jealous even if it had happened before him. Damon was never going to be able to look at her mouth the same way again.

He grabbed a handful of hair, which had been tickling his thighs and moved with her. He didn't force her to go faster or deeper; he just enjoyed what she was giving - he _enjoyed_ it very much. Sensation, need, want burned throughout his body and he even let a few moans escape, which caused her to hum around him, and his body tightened in anticipation.

He wasn't sure if it was because of their bond or just because he was with someone he loved, but this was a thousand times better than some random lay; this was mind numbing pleasure so intense one could go temporarily blind or deaf from it.

He dared anyone to try and get him to focus on anything but Rebecca's mouth right now. He would kill anything or anyone who would dare interrupt them from this. His body shook and his hand tightened in her hair, and if he hadn't been so high on pleasure he would've worried that he was hurting her. But she didn't complain.

Her tongue swirled and her cheeks hollowed out. She was experimenting, and it seemed like she picked up on what he liked the most and then repeated it until he felt he could go insane. And Damon - he wasn't used to this. Yes, pleasure, he knew all about that. But he wasn't used to the girl putting his needs and his wants first. This wasn't something she was doing because he'd asked her to; she was just doing it. He liked this so she was doing it; it was as simple and as scary as that.

She looked up at him, green eyes with a naughty glint in them, and Damon couldn't look away. It was the most intimate experience ever even though he'd been with many - many - girls and women. It was sexy as hell and he found he couldn't breathe for a few seconds.

Damon actually whimpered a little when he felt her mouth leave his throbbing member. What was she doing? She couldn't stop now!

He was just about to protest when he felt her tongue flick playfully over the head of his cock and his hips jerked in response. God, what a perfect time to be a tease.

"Becca . . ."

"Yes, Damon?" Fuck, but her voice was rough from what she'd been doing and it sent shivers through him. Yes, he was fucking shivering from what she'd been doing. Who knew someone could so easily reduce Damon Salvatore to a puddle of goo.

Damon didn't get time to answer because she was suddenly licking her way down the underside of his cock. One long, confident stroke, and then she was taking one of his boys inside her mouth. _Where_ had she learned that? Oh, who the hell cared? It felt amazing! This was making him want to grab her and throw her on the bed and . . .

"Becca!" Was that really his broken voice that filled the room? Had she reduced him to that?

Rebecca brought one hand up to grasp his member and then she was suddenly taking his length back into her mouth. What couldn't fit in her mouth was being taken care of with her hand. Her teeth scraped against the underside of his cock - gently so as not to hurt him - and he was done. He had just enough time to warn her and then he was soaring. And Rebecca . . . wasn't moving away. She was swallowing everything he had to give and that turned him on so much that he thought he could just harden right back up so she could continue.

But he didn't. He didn't want to overwhelm her, not if he wanted this to happen again. Which he did very badly.

Rebecca stopped only after he was completely done and had fallen back on the bed; he was, for once, completely sated.

Rebecca made her way up Damon's body, exploring with her fingers and mouth. She nipped at certain places and put Damon's sounds away for future reference. She found that he didn't just like to bite; he liked being bitten himself. When she made it to his lips she hesitated. Would he even want to kiss her right now? How did he feel about tasting himself?

He looked peaceful, like he was asleep, and she was glad she could give him that. When his eyes met hers her heart stopped for just a second. What she saw was the definition of devotion, total commitment, and total adoration. She'd seen it before when he'd been human. She remembered something she'd told him once, and she thought it was worth repeating in this instant.

"I love you, Damon." It came out as a whisper but she knew he could hear just fine. "It's okay if you can't say it back yet. I just needed you to know how I felt . . . so there would be no room for doubt later."

She smiled when she saw the recognition of the words in his mind. She watched as he struggled with himself over what he wanted to say back.

"Don't force the words out. When you're ready they'll come naturally."

Damon tried not to feel the relief that came from her quick understanding but he felt it anyway.

* * *

Later that day, after many pleasurable moments in the bedroom, Rebecca got hungry - orgasms were fun and all but getting there made one work up an appetite. And Damon proved to be almost insatiable when he wanted to be. Not that she was complaining, though her wrist was sore and her jaw ached. But the rest of her body was . . . well, she would describe herself as tingly.

They were both in the kitchen now, and Damon was in an extremely good mood - hm, orgasms were key. She'd wanted to know what real Italian spaghetti tasted like, and so . . . Damon was fixing it. It smelled so good it made her mouth water.

Damon seemed comfortable in the kitchen, and she enjoyed watching him in one of his elements.

"Could you cook when you were human?" she asked.

"A little. Stefan and I would sneak into the kitchen and watch the servants at work. Sometimes they let us help."

"Oh . . . so, did you learn for you or for something else?"

Damon smiled. It seemed he was more at ease with himself when Stefan wasn't around, which Rebecca understood. Stefan had forced one of the biggest changes in Damon's life and, so yeah, Rebecca understood the lasting resentment.

"I was extremely bored - one of the pitfalls of eternity. So I took it up and found I really enjoyed it. Besides, blood is great and all - it keeps me alive or whatever - but it still gets dull after a while. I need variety. So I learned to cook. Went to different culinary schools around the world, learned all the foreign dishes."

Rebecca nodded. "Impressive." She bit her lip and looked down. "Do you think that one day, after all this drama is over, you and I could travel together? You could take me to all the places that are worth going to. You could re-explore them with me."

"Is that what you want to do?" Damon asked.

"One of the things I want to do, yes. I haven't been outside of the U.S. I've been to California to visit family, but other than that it's only been Mystic Falls for me."

"We can travel. I don't care. But, um, what about college? You're the brainy type. I figured you'd be all over that."

Rebecca shrugged, feeling a little self-conscious.

"What" Damon asked.

"I don't want to ruin your good mood; can we talk about it later?"

"How will talking about college ruin my good mood?"

Damon was confused. Rebecca was usually so open and she never held anything back from him, but now _college_ seemed to be a bad subject for her to talk about.

"Because I . . . I probably won't be alive to go, okay?" she nearly shouted, disturbing the quiet of the house.

Then, as if saying those words had opened up a dam, the waterworks came into play. And Damon didn't know what to do. What had happened?

"Of course you'll be alive. What are you talking about?"

"Well, I have an abbreviated lifespan. You know this. And . . . almost every vampire I come across is going to want me dead for the simple fact that I'm the Slayer."

"You're basing your life on the _other_ Slayers. But you have something they didn't have," Damon said, and she looked at him beseechingly. "Me."

That earned him a small smile at least. "Right."

"No, I'm serious. You have me and Bonnie and Elena and all your other friends. You have more fight in you because you have ties to this world. You'll live longer because of it."

"But I will still die," Rebecca said in a small voice. "Unless you -"

"Don't," Damon said firmly. "You're not dying right this instant, so _don't_. Okay?"

Damon didn't want to think of Rebecca becoming what he was. Granted, he knew that it if came down to it, he would give her blood to save her, but she wasn't in danger at the moment and he had no intention of letting her die, so . . .

"Is that why you don't talk about the future?" Damon asked. "You don't think you're gonna have one?"

Rebecca shrugged. "It is what it is, Damon. I mean, I've never really thought about the future much anyway, but I have this sealed in fate thing going against any plans I might've had. It's just . . . I figured why waste time with something you're never gonna use."

"Hm."

Damon tended to the sauce when he spoke. "Look . . . I'm not saying no for all time. Just not now. You're only seventeen, Rebecca. I know you'll never be able to have a normal life, so I won't even say anything about that, but you need to think before you make a decision about this. It's not all super speed and inhuman strength. There are bad parts too, that you may not want."

"Well, I didn't say I would want to be turned right now. I just wanted you to know that I would be open to it if that was what you wanted. If you thought that you could be with me, love me forever, then I would do it. But I wouldn't want to be turned and then have an eternity without you in it. I would probably kill myself."

Damon listened to the raw honesty in her voice and found he couldn't look her in the eyes. He realized - well, he'd always known, but still . . . he realized now how real this was to her, how real they, as a couple, were to her. She was committed, in it for the long haul, which meant he would have to explain the downsides of being a vampire. If that was what she wanted one day, for them to be together forever, then he wouldn't let her go in blind. he'd have to be completely honest so she wouldn't hate him for it later.

* * *

Okay, so they had some fun in the bedroom and then they had a serious conversation afterwards. I honestly don't think Damon realized how serious Rebecca was about their relationship until she mentioned changing into a vampire for him, giving up her human life for him. He knows how big a deal that is, so . . . And on the flip side, Rebecca _doesn't_ know how big a deal that is. She can't because even though she can speculate, she's not a vampire. Right now she's speaking as a 17 year old girl who's in love and would do anything for the one she's in love with.


	36. Chapter 31

Chapter Thirty-One

By the time Thanksgiving came, Rebecca had become nervous about the gift she was giving Damon. What if he didn't like it? Or what if he had a weird reaction to it? Damon had loved his mother and he tried so hard to act like he didn't care, so what if he just withdrew into himself even more?

He'd seemed to have had a genuinely good time with her and her family, though. He'd even gotten to meet her grandparents, who had come to visit from California. Rebecca hadn't thought about it before, but her grandparents that had come to visit were also the parents of Rebecca's mother. That meant that they probably knew about vampires. Her mom had had to learn somehow, right? Maybe she should ask her dad about the Founders journals. Maybe her mother's family had some stored away somewhere and Rebecca could get them and study them or something. Her family history would be interesting to read about since she hadn't known her mother's side of the family had been Founders.

It had vaguely disturbed her that she was dating someone older than her grandfather, but she got over it quickly. Damon didn't _act_ old. Sometimes he acted younger than she did.

And now, here it was, Thanksgiving night, and she was pulling up to the boardinghouse because they'd made plans to spend the night together, but she would not be _sleeping with him_ as in having sex with him. Stefan was home, too, and would be able to hear if they . . . did that. She couldn't handle it if Stefan or anyone else heard them doing that - especially not for the first time.

She got the wrapped present from the backseat of the car and went inside the boardinghouse without knocking - why bother when they would've heard her pull up in her car, anyway?

She said hi to Stefan and went up to Damon's room. She felt a little bad about not sharing the present with Stefan, but he would probably see it eventually. She heard the shower running and set the present on the bed.

She went into his little bathroom space and announced her presence.

"I know you heard me anyway, but hi," she said cheerfully. "I told my dad I was staying with Bonnie, so . . ."

Damon didn't have a curtained shower; his was the kind with the sliding glass, so she could see his outline perfectly - and she stared. He probably heard her heart start racing. His image was distorted, but . . . everything was still evident.

"Hi," he said back. "Care to join?"

"Uh . . ." She hadn't expected him to ask, but his voice was extremely tempting. "Probably a bad idea, Damon."

"Oh, come on, I'll behave. I promise."

"Yeah, you say that _now_."

But she was already beginning to undress. Her shoes went first and then her jeans. She tossed all of her clothes on the floor and shakily stepped into the shower with him. She still wasn't used to the full nudity thing, but it wasn't a modesty issue - it was more a 'Damon's been around a long time and has seen hundreds of girls naked and some of them probably looked better than her' thing. She was always wondering if he was comparing her to the others.

But her fears usually went away when she saw how he looked at her like she was his entire world. It didn't matter what had happened between the times she'd been with him in 1864 and now because he'd waited to get back to her, he'd wanted to be with her that much.

It was still intimidating, though. He was . . . experienced - very much so - in the sex department, and she wasn't. What if she was a huge disappointment? What if, when it came down to it, she was no good at it? Could someone be taught to be a sexual goddess? Did she really have it in her?

She distracted herself by reminding herself that she was in the shower, watching a wet Damon wash himself. Watching his muscles flex when he moved. Now she was more worried about herself behaving rather than Damon.

She didn't need to wash her hair so she had pulled it up in a messy bun. She stepped up behind him since he hadn't turned around to look at her. She began to rub his already soapy back and kneaded the muscles softly.

Damon felt as if he could let her do this forever. Her hands were gentle but firm, and they were soothing. The way she was with him, he couldn't get enough of it. Not many people had treated him the way she did, not in either of his lives. She always tried to make him feel better even though she already had more than enough problems to deal with on her own.

She kissed his shoulder and then scraped her teeth across his flesh, and he tensed for a second.

"I can't behave if you keep doing that," he said softly.

He felt her smile against him, and she said, "What if I said I don't care about behaving anymore?"

He turned to look at her with questioning eyes and listened as her heart sped up. "I would probably say 'just how much are you willing to misbehave?" He did that eye thing she loved, and she smiled.

She looked at him from under her lashes and he could see her less than honorable intentions and he was surprised. He couldn't say he hadn't been thinking about it - he was guy, so obviously he'd been thinking about it - but he hadn't known _she_ had.

He wasn't going to complain, but he did have to ask a question or two first.

"What about Stefan?" He wasn't too worried about it, but he knew that she wouldn't want Stefan hearing anything . . . dirty. Moaning, screaming, endless hours of breathless words coming from his or her mouth.

"I don't love Stefan," she teased, and he smiled. "Besides, we can be quiet or he can leave if we get too loud."

He met her lips as they turned up to his, and he brought them out from under the water pouring down. He pulled the bow from her hair and let it cascade down her body to her waist, and then he buried his hands in her mane, holding her head in place - she did the same to him.

There was no desperation in their gestures. She was here with him, she wasn't going anywhere, and he had all the time in the world. He could take as much time as he wanted with her, or as much time as she needed him to. With this, Damon would be patient. Not all girls got the chance to have their first time be with someone that actually loved them, and even when they did, not all girls got the perfect first time. But Damon knew he could give her that.

With Damon, Rebecca would not have a horror experience. She would not be one of those girl who became afraid of sex after the first time. Some pain was unavoidable, but she _would not_ come to associate pain with sex.

He caressed down her body, paying special attention to her breasts because she seemed to like it. He wanted her to be a quivering mess before he moved them to the bedroom.

Rebecca didn't seem to know what to do with her hands; she wanted to be everywhere at once.

"If we do this you're not going to sleep tonight," he said, semi-joking. It was true he could go multiple times before wearing himself out, but he didn't know if she could.

"As long as I can sleep tomorrow I don't care," she answered.

Damon slid his hand between her thighs and found his mark almost immediately. He tortured her a little at first - light touches and never continuous - but then decided he didn't want to make her wait. What if she turned the tables on him? That wouldn't be good; he didn't like being teased . . . much. He had to hold her up because her legs shook as he continued bringing her higher, and she clung to him like he was her lifeline.

Rebecca didn't know what had made her decide to do this tonight - it couldn't possibly have anything to do with the naked Damon in the shower with her. She'd been against it at first, and now . . . Now she was just glad she'd changed her mind. He was so _good_ at this, and she didn't care where or how he'd learned to do all these things, she was just glad he had.

As the heat began growing she pulled him closer and then . . . he stopped.

"Hey!" she complained. "What the hell?" She'd been about five seconds from cumming, and he'd known it.

Damon smirked at her. "I was thinking we should take this to the bedroom, little Miss Eager."

"Oh." She frowned anyway. "You couldn't have let me finish first?"

He looked at her, amused. "You're demanding when you're frustrated."

He turned the water off and then they dried off enough not to get everything soaked, not that he would've cared at all. He watched how shaky she was and knew she wouldn't last long once they really got started. Damon surprised her by picking her up, bridal style, and carrying her to the bed. He noticed the wrapped object and, after putting Rebecca on the bed, he mentioned it.

"It's your present," Rebecca said. Honestly, she'd forgotten about it since her brain was lust-addled at the moment. "Please don't open it yet. It will probably - most definitely - take you out of the mood."

Damon didn't feel like being taken out of the mood, so he put the gift against the dresser and turned back to his soon to be girlfriend-lover. He sauntered over to the bed and, instead of smirking, smiled tenderly down at her. He was finally going to get to be with her after so many years.

There she was, laid bare for him to see, to enjoy, to worship at her alter. Her skin wasn't as tan because summer had faded and winter was on its way, but she still glowed healthily. Her emerald eyes shined up at him lovingly and he couldn't help but tell her she was beautiful. Then he began to show her how beautiful he thought she was.

He began making love to her body with his mouth. Her neck, breasts, stomach; the last of which he found was ticklish. He sensed she was growing impatient, though, and she was beginning to get restless.

"Damon, get yourself inside me already!"

He let out a few huffs of laughter at her words. But, hey, at least she knew what she wanted. He just . . . he wanted to do something else first.

He began nibbling at her hip bone and she jerked upward, but she closed her legs so he couldn't get between them. Her innocence was kicking in, apparently.

"Come on, Becca. It's me. You don't have to be self-conscious with me. Ever."

Damon looked up, saw her biting her lip, and began caressing her legs so he could ease himself down her body. Their eyes connected, she began relaxing her legs and let him slide between them, and he saw her anxiety had lessened.

Rebecca was internally freaking out as Damon made it clear what he wanted to do; she was innocent, not naive. He wanted to taste her, and not in the vampire sense of the word.

"Um . . ." She knew that she'd gone down on him before, but this was different. This was _her_ getting the attention this time.

Her emotions were at war. Her instincts were still telling her to shut her legs - this was very indecent, just having her legs spread wide open for him - but another part of her was telling her she wanted to know what this felt like. And _another_ part of her was telling her that she was really vulnerable this way. She was on her back and Damon could do anything he wanted to her right now.

She was nervous . . . until she felt his tongue slide over her clit.

Nervousness gone. And she soon forgot to care that her legs were spread - and now hooked over his shoulders. And she didn't care if this was indecent, either. It felt amazing; she hadn't known something could feel so good. It was a completely different feeling than when he used his fingers. This was soft and mind-numbingly blissful. She felt she needed to anchor herself to the earth; she would float away otherwise.

"Dam - Damon!" Her breathing began to get shallow, and one of his hands crept up her stomach toward her breasts but she grabbed it and squeezed as she was brought to her peak - she figured it was better than grabbing his head, which had been what she'd been going to grab onto.

Damon lapped up her womanly juices as they came from her and continued until he felt her body relax. His ulterior motive behind this was he wanted her to be as wet as she could be so they could have smooth sailings as far as him being able to fit inside her without hurting her.

He kissed his way back up her trembling body and he let her catch her breath. He watched as her chest rose and fell and then tenderly kissed each of her breasts in turn. And he realized she was clinging to him again.

"Last chance to back out, Miss Rebecca," he teased, knowing she liked when he called her that.

"Not backing out," she said, looking at him.

Truth be told, she wasn't even nervous - that had passed when Damon had teased her with his mouth. She thought she _should _be nervous, but she felt that this, her being with Damon like this, was the most natural thing in the world.

She sat up just a little so she could kiss him and then she bent her legs on either side of him and waited for him to make the next move.

Damon placed himself at her entrance and looked at her, waiting for her go-ahead, which he immediately received. He inched his way in, thankful that she knew what to expect already. The only time she seemed to be in any pain at all was as he slid all the way in - smoothly - but she didn't cry out. There weren't even any tears in her eyes. He was thankful for that. He would've hated thinking he was enjoying being inside her while she was in pain from it.

"I expected that to hurt more," she said softly.

He stayed still then, for her sake and his. He'd been with a lot of women, but none that he had loved. This was different; it felt different, better, stronger.

And that was when he said it. When he said "I love you." He had to, really. He couldn't do this with her and not let her know. He needed her to know that this was a first for him too. Not in the same sense as it was for her, but he'd never _made love_ before. He'd had casual sex - lots of casual sex - and he needed her to know that this wasn't like that.

"I know. I've always known."

Rebecca gave him a watery smile - _now_ there were tears - and pulled him closer. She kissed him again and then returned the words as he began moving inside her. She could feel every inch of him and she couldn't help but focus on the sensations. She could tell from the way they were moving together that they weren't just having sex - they were making love together; Damon was making love to her. He was moving his body to get reactions from hers, and then she began doing the same thing for him.

It was slow but intense. She caught on very quickly how to move her body with his, like a dance - a very intimate dance. And, even though they'd never done this before, they were so attuned to each other it was like they'd been together for lifetimes before this moment.

Rebecca came twice before Damon felt that he had to - vampire stamina and all that - and then he began moving faster. She brought her legs up higher, bracing one knee against his shoulder and gasped when he slid in deeper. She may have even cursed; neither of them were paying much attention to words by that point.

When Damon began nipping at her neck and shoulder she knew what he wanted and she caressed the back of his neck. She told him to go for it. She knew he wouldn't hurt her.

Damon timed their movements so that they would cum together and then he sank his fangs into her neck - missing all the main veins and anything else that would hurt her. Rebecca was surprised by the possessiveness his bite held. He wasn't just feeding now; this was more erotic. He was marking her as his, claiming her as his equal, claiming her as _his_, period. The bite was more animalistic, more predatory than his previous bites, but she didn't mind. It didn't hurt any more than it normally did, and the other, more pleasurable, sensations overrode what pain there was.

Between the feeling of him sliding in and out of her and the other feeling of her life pouring into him, she was on sensation overload and her body had begun to work without her permission.

Damon was in the same boat, only more so - _everything_ was magnified when one was a vampire, even pleasure. If a human had felt what he was feeling at that moment, they would've passed out from over-stimulation. He was drinking carefully from her now in contrast to the fact that he was pounding into her, desperate for his release yet not wanting this to end yet. He knew, though, that Rebecca would tire herself out if they went on much longer, because she wouldn't tell him to stop. She wouldn't tell him she was tired, not unless he asked.

Rebecca wasn't a complainer even when she had the right to be.

So as he felt her cum around him again - he wished he could feel that forever, never ending - he let himself go, and within ten seconds he'd begun spilling himself inside her, trying not to become too overwhelmed so he wouldn't lose control.

He hadn't bitten her to feed. Biting sort of just came with sex when one was a vampire. When one was close to cumming, the need to bite just sort of reared its ugly head. He was glad Rebecca got that; he didn't want to have to _not_ bite all the time. And this time had been different. She was _his_ now. She would even have his bite mark on her for a few days. He hadn't bitten her hard enough to hurt her so she'd need blood, so . . .

Strangely, the need to bite someone was even more intense when a vampire cared about a person. Damon didn't know why love led to biting, but that was how it was. Then again . . . any emotion led to biting for him.

Rebecca found she loved the feeling of him being inside of her because when he slipped out and collapsed to the side of her she felt empty. She just moved closer to him and placed her head on his chest. She wanted to enjoy the blissfulness with him. She wanted to bask.

"I feel different," she whispered. "But I guess that makes sense, right?"

"Mm."

She chuckled at his less than eloquent response. "Are you actually tired?" she teased. "Damn, I'm good."

He kissed her hair and then pulled her closer. "You haven't even begun to wear me out."

"I should try to remedy that," she said.

Rebecca walked her fingers down his abs and watched as his member began to stiffen again. She was going to love his vampire stamina.

* * *

"Mm . . . this is relaxing," Rebecca said breathlessly, after the third time they'd made love that night. She would describe herself as tingly. She'd come eight times and her body was still thankful.

"_Mm-hm_," Damon agreed from his place on top of her. He'd collapsed after he'd had his release and he had to admit they were wearing each other out - she was wearing _him_ out. His limbs hadn't shaken from exhaustion since before he'd been turned but they were getting to that point now.

Rebecca had her legs wrapped around him like she didn't want him going anywhere - like he'd just leave her right now after what had happened - and her hands were rubbing his shoulders.

"This is a lot better than I thought it would be," Rebecca admitted. "I always thought Caroline was exaggerating about how good sex could be."

Again Damon didn't form a response. He was breathing lightly, still on top of her and half inside her, and he was . . . he was sleeping, Rebecca noticed. He'd fallen asleep on top of her, his head cradled in the crook of her neck where he'd latched onto the place he'd bitten her previously.

_Well, how rude_, she thought fondly. _And maybe a little adorable_.

She moved just a little but stopped when Damon let out a small groan - they were very close together and she'd slid against his overstimulated member. She didn't know if she should wake him up or not - he seemed so peaceful and she didn't want to ruin that.

"Damon?" she whispered.

She then used her legs to flip them over and she succeeded in getting him off of her, but she woke him up too. He looked at her with wide eyes and she laughed - he seemed young just then.

"Sorry, but you fell asleep on top of me."

"Hm." He was half asleep again already. He was such a guy.

She moved off of him, feeling tired herself now, and snuggled up to him, beginning to doze off seconds later.

* * *

When they woke up the next morning Rebecca cleaned the wound on her neck. It wasn't that bad, tender to the touch maybe, but other than that she was fine. Damon hadn't offered her his blood, not this time, and she hadn't asked for it. It was unspoken but they both knew Damon _wanted_ her to be marked by him, wanted others to know she was his and it would be in their best interest to leave her alone. That would only work on other vampires, of course, but he wasn't worried about the humans.

"How are you planning on hiding that?" Damon asked, coming up behind her and examining the wound himself. He took the antiseptic from her and began cleaning the wound.

"I don't know, my hair? Besides, I don't really have to. I can make something up. I do go up against vampires on an almost weekly basis. I could've had an accident. As long as my aunt doesn't see it I'm good."

"You aren't going to tell her?" he asked. "About you?"

"Not yet. She's pregnant and I don't want to cause any problems for her. I'll tell her after the baby's born, or however it turns out. I just know that she doesn't need the added stress of knowing that vampires are real and that I'm with one."

"Are you still on the fence about the baby?" Damon asked, beginning to bandage the wound.

She shrugged. "I'm not sure. I kind of . . . I have this really bad feeling that the baby is my dad's and if it is I'll never forgive him for it, but he just . . . ever since he's found out about the baby he's been different. Not compulsion different; this has nothing to do with what you compelled him to do. He's happier, I guess. And Tina was scared that he was gonna send her away because she was pregnant. And I'm just . . . waiting for the other shoe to drop. I want to know if my suspicions are right but on the other hand I don't either because . . . because Tina is my aunt so . . . that would just be wrong on so many levels. You know?"

"I get that," Damon said.

Rebecca saw Damon look her up and down and then noticed that he looked a little uncomfortable so she turned to him and touched his cheek. "What?"

"Are you okay? I mean, physically. Not sore or anything?"

Rebecca smiled at his concern and told him she was fine, which she was. Yes, she was sore - sex three times in one night was probably the reason, just a shot in the dark, but she'd be fine. She was glad he was concerned about it, though. It showed her that he was thinking about her well being and not just the pleasure he had gained from her the night before.

"Now, come on, you have to open your present. It's a day late, but whatever."

Damon indulged her and they went in his bedroom again. "Okay, what'd you get me?"

She bit her lip and handed it to him. Damon could tell she was nervous, which made him suspicious that he was walking into something he might not want to walk into.

"Okay, before you open it, I found this and I remembered us talking and so that's why I'm giving it to you. I'm just not sure how you'll react."

"Uh-oh," he teased.

He was not the kind to try and preserve wrapping paper, so he tore the paper off and . . . just stared. He even stopped breathing - not that he needed to breathe - and took it in.

It was a painting of his mother - the same one his father had removed from the living room after she had passed away. He'd resented his father for trying to take his memories of his mom away, for trying to remove her from their lives, from their home.

He'd forgotten how much he looked like her. Black hair, blue eyes, strong features. Her hair had been wavy like his had been before he'd found ways to straighten it. Her eyes had a warmth to them that his had had when he'd been human. She'd nurtured his emotions when he'd been a child, had told him never to hide himself - he should let the world see, let himself shine through. His mother had done what Rebecca was doing for him now. His mother had given him a place where he could be himself, could be accepted for who he was. And that's what Rebecca was for Damon - a haven where he didn't have to pretend to care about certain things and didn't have to pretend _not_ to care about other things.

But how had Rebecca gotten this? He could've sworn it had been in the original Salvatore house. Why had she been there?

When he asked her she told him about her dad thinking of rebuilding their old house. She'd saved it from being destroyed before the workers started on it.

"I thought this would be a way to show you that I listen too. That I am almost obsessively observant of what you do, too."

"Well . . . message received."

He remembered their conversations by the pond at his old home too, and remembered telling her how much he'd loved his mother, and so the fact that she'd remembered him telling her where the painting was touched him in some deeply human way. Telling her thank you for this was the most natural thing for him to do, even though he hadn't genuinely thanked someone for . . . well, he couldn't remember how long it had been, but it had been a long, long time.

He still had that Virginia etiquette buried in him somewhere.

"Where should I put it?' he asked.

"Wherever you want. Uh . . . the parlor maybe?"

"Hm." He looked at her for a few seconds and saw her cross necklace and thought about something. "Don't move. I'll be right back."

He stood up and gingerly placed the painting on the bed - he'd hang it up later even though he didn't want to share with Stefan; Stefan hadn't even known their mother. He got a wooden box with a carving of an angel on the top and handed it to Rebecca. She looked up at him, questioning, and he gestured for her to open it.

"You didn't have to do this just because -"

"I didn't. I got this after your little outburst in the kitchen the other day."

Rebecca released the latch on the front of the box and was surprised by what was inside. There on a velvet bed was a necklace, and dangling from it was a pendant with the Salvatore crest on it - the intricate _S_ that was on Damon's and Stefan's rings.

"Oh, wow." She looked up at him, smiling.

The necklace was silver and . . . beneath the silver was a deep blue stone set in it. Lapis Lazuli.

"I don't want you to take this the wrong way," Damon was quick to say. "I'm still not wanting you to turn _right now_. At least wait until you're eighteen, okay? So try not to get yourself killed until then." When she was about to retort that she never _tried_ to get herself killed he placed a finger on her lips to keep her quiet. "Before, when I was human, this would've meant we'd been married or were planning to get married.

Damon relaxed a little since he'd seen the obvious joy Rebecca got from the simple gift.

"Uh, anyway . . . there's a latch in the back and there's vervain in it. You can switch off with the cross every now and then. And then . . . when you change you won't need the vervain anymore, but you will need the blue stone there. You'll still have to get a witch to spell it to make it work, but it's there when you need it."

Rebecca nodded but was still caught up with something he'd said.

"Would we have? Gotten married?" she asked breathlessly.

"Assuming you hadn't had to go away? Probably. Had everything worked out the way it should have, yes. I would've asked and you would've accepted. I would've been human and we would've had lots of little Damon's running around."

"Oh, the horror," she teased.

Truth be told, Rebecca had never really thought about having a family. Hers was so messed up she'd never really wanted one of her own. But she could imagine it now. Children running around, blond hair with blue eyes, or black hair with green eyes. Maybe vice versa. But she would never be able to have that, not with Damon, and she didn't want it with anyone else.

She turned the box toward him and stood up. "Put it on for me?"

He nodded and grabbed the necklace, and she turned around. She lifted her hair and he clasped the chain. The pendant stopped a few inches above the cross.

"There you go," he said, putting her hair back in place.

"Thanks."

She kissed him on the cheek and smiled softly. She was so happy in that moment that she just wanted to press pause or repeat or something. She wanted to feel like this forever.

"I love you," she said, wanting to see how he'd react, and chuckled when he reacted how she thought he would.

"Oh, God, we're not gonna become one of those lovey-dovey couples, are we? We can't become that."

"You could've just said 'I love you too'," she said. "Simpler, more to the point."

Damon rolled his eyes but he was smiling too. "I love you too."

"Very good."

* * *

Rebecca spent the day at the boardinghouse having fun with Damon in the kitchen. He'd made plans to come and see her grandparents again before they had to leave, only because he knew it would be important to her. To the outside observer, Damon was the perfect gentleman - her grandparents loved him, her aunt loved him, and her dad was warming up to him. Damon was sure that last had a lot to do with Damon being on the Council. He and Rebecca's dad had never worked together but he was sure it would happen eventually, so they needed to get along.

Elena came over to visit Stefan, and Damon tried to get along with his brother - he could torment Stefan on his own time.

He and Rebecca cooked lunch, and, since it was something she'd never fixed before, she followed his directions well. Stefan helped too, though Rebecca noticed he didn't enjoy it quite as much as Damon did. Both brothers were uneasy around each other. Rebecca was hoping they were learning to be brothers again. She didn't want them to hate each other for all of eternity. And she didn't want Damon to be mad at her for wanting to start a friendship with Stefan. She didn't want Damon to be insecure about the friendship between her and his brother, and for him to not be insecure he would need to trust both Rebecca and Stefan.

"Just so you know, Caroline is going to try to rope you into helping with the 50s dance," Elena said. "She's already asked Bonnie and me."

"Can't wait," Rebecca said unenthusiastically. School dances were lame, at best.

Every year Mystic Falls High had a decade's dance or two. This year it was the 50s, but they alternated between 50s, 60, and 70s. Caroline chaired the dance committee.

"You know, she misses you. She won't say anything to you but she does. You should help out. You, me, Bonnie, and Caroline. We could make a thing of it."

"Yeah, I'll think about it."

"Well, think fast because I told her you and I would have lunch with her tomorrow."

Rebecca glared playfully. "I love how you volunteer me for things without asking me first."

"It's what I'm here for. Um . . ." Elena grew serious. "I told Bonnie about the adoption, and I looked at my birth certificate. It lists Miranda and Grayson Gilbert as my birth parents. None of it makes any sense."

"Your dad was a doctor," Rebecca said gently. "He could've taken care of it, made it look legal." She knew Elena didn't want to believe her father could've done something so underhanded like that, but it was true. "What did Jenna say?"

Elena shrugged and looked away.

"You haven't talked to her," Rebecca said.

"I just . . . she didn't tell me that . . ."

"That you were adopted," Rebecca finished for her.

Rebecca could've brought up the fact that Elena wasn't the most honest individual herself but she didn't. She bit her lip to keep from saying anything that could be construed as hurtful.

"Well, now that she knows you know, it might be a good idea to ask her. She might know who your birth parents are. As long as you're sure you want to know. Once you learn, you can't unlearn."

Well, technically there was a way for Elena to forget everything, but Elena would never willingly let herself be compelled to forget something.

* * *

Once Rebecca and Elena left, Stefan asked Damon if he could talk to him and Damon reluctantly agreed.

"What're you doing?"

"About what?"

"Rebecca. You left a bite mark on her. You're feeding from her."

"She's willing," Damon said defensively. "I don't have to compel her. And I thought I told you to mind your own business when it comes to her."

"You did. And . . . honestly, I can tell you . . . care about her, and I think she's good for you. I haven't seen you so happy since -"

"Since you forced me to turn into a vampire?" Damon interrupted mercilessly. "Yeah, well, I haven't had much to be happy about."

Stefan grimaced as he thought about what Damon had just said. "I just want to make sure she doesn't get hurt. I've come to think of her as a potential friend, and I know how you think, so -"

Damon cut him off again, only this time not with words. His fist connected with Stefan's jaw, and Stefan fell to his knees.

"I'm not gonna stand here and defend myself to you. And you shouldn't think for a second that you understand anything about me. You never even tried to."

The thing was that he knew Stefan really did mean well, but that didn't give Stefan the right to question Damon's very real feelings for Rebecca. The worst thing was that Damon knew how uncertain the world had become. His world. Because of Rebecca. She hadn't meant to but she'd changed everything. She was a part of him now, and that made him vulnerable because she was vulnerable. It have him an added weakness but also and added strength he'd never known.

She'd given him something to go on for.


	37. Chapter 32

Chapter Thirty-Two

Rebecca had gone to lunch with Caroline, Bonnie and Elena since Elena had planned it. It was the Sunday before the three other girls had to go back to school from Thanksgiving break. She agreed to help decorate the gym for the 50s dance; as long as Bonnie and Elena would be there she wouldn't mind

Though . . . to be fair, Caroline wasn't acting as obnoxiously as she used to. She had Matt now, and they fit surprisingly well together. He brought her down to earth a little. Matt was the all-American type; he helped her in a lot of ways.

Elena had given Caroline a necklace with vervain in it, and Caroline loved it. Elena had also given Jeremy a wrist band with vervain in it, and she'd given Jenna vervain scented perfume. They were safe from compulsion, at least.

Bonnie was a witch - a supernatural being with magic running through her veins - so she couldn't be compelled and neither could her Grams. They were safe.

Rebecca's family was being provided vervain via the Council, who was getting it from Damon. So Rebecca's family was safe, too. And she wore either the cross necklace or the Salvatore one Damon had given her, depending on what she was wearing. But she _could_ be compelled if she lacked one of the jewelry pieces. Even though she was the Slayer, she was still human.

Rebecca hadn't known it, but Elena and Caroline had been having issues; Caroline had been avoiding Elena because of Caroline liking Matt. She didn't want their relationship to become weird. It was a whole big thing because Elena had dated Matt but had dumped him when her parents had died, and Caroline wasn't sure if Matt was really over Elena.

Elena, having a generous moment had said it wasn't about her; it was about what Matt and Caroline wanted. Matt had to move on and he knew it.

Speaking of Matt, Rebecca was at the Grill with him now and he was filling out an application. With Vicki gone and his mom not home, he had bills to pay. Rebecca was thankful she didn't have to worry about that, at least. Her dad did pay the bills even if he didn't do much else.

The new bartender was Ben somebody, and he was a vampire. Rebecca had known him from school. He'd graduated a couple years ago, had gone to college, and was back now. He'd torn his rotator cuff, which sucked because he'd been a football player. His scholarship had gone away in the blink of an eye; now he was a bartender. She wondered when he'd been turned into a vampire but she couldn't just ask him. Not now.

Besides, she'd always just thought he'd been a dumb jock; he hadn't given her much reason to think otherwise.

"So, are you going to help Caroline with the dance?" Matt asked.

"Yeah. Reluctantly. I don't really want to, but I do want to spend time with you guys. I feel like I haven't seen you guys in forever. Are _you_ helping Caroline with the dance?"

"Yeah. I promised I would." Matt turned his ultra-blue eyes to her. "You're not gonna tease me now, are you?"

"For what?"

"Being with Caroline. I know you guys never really . . . hit it off."

"Why would I tease you? If you make each other happy, screw what everyone else thinks. You do like her, right?"

Matt wasn't the type to be with a person just for sex, so . . . the obvious answer was yes.

"Yeah. She's great. She's fun. There's just this thing, she's got this way about her, and I like it."

"She's a great girl, Matty, and you're a great guy, so . . . go for it. I know she more than likes you."

"Really?"

"She's thinks you've "peaked as friends." Her words, not mine."

"Hm." Matt went back to filling out the application in silence but Rebecca could tell something else was bothering him. After a few minutes he blurted out, "Well, what if it doesn't work out?"

"Well, do you _want_ it to work out?"

"Yeah. More than anything. She's one of the only good things I have left. With Vicki gone, and Mom off with Pete whoever . . . I don't want to lose her, and I don't want to mess it up."

"Have you told Caroline?"

"No!" Matt looked incredulous. "How do you say that to the girl you like?"

"Um . . ." Rebecca chuckled; men were dumb - or, maybe not dumb, but they made things harder than they had to be. "Well, I would probably go with something like . . . "Caroline, can I talk to you for a second?" and then proceed with caution."

"Matt Donovan. What d'you know?" the bartender butted in.

"Ben McKittrick. What's up, man?" Matt said, beginning to smile.

McKittrick, that was his last name! He looked kind of like a younger version of Tom Cruise - think "The Outsiders" days.

"Rough season, bud."

"Yeah, it's kind of hard to recover when you have to forfeit half your games."

Mr. Tanner had been fired for unsportsmanlike conduct on and off the field. Only problem with that was that the football team was now suffering because they didn't have a coach.

"You gonna be workin' here?"

"Yup. Following in your footsteps, minus the state championship."

"We can't all be football gods."

"Yeah."

"So, what's the plan? Cook line?"

Matt shook his head. "Busboy."

Ben didn't say anything; he just looked on sympathetically.

"Hey, can you get me a Pepsi?" Rebecca asked.

"Sure. Coming right up, Becca."

The first thing that registered was that he'd called her Becca. They hadn't been friends in school; she'd been a brain and he'd been your typical jock. He'd never paid attention to her at all. Why all of a sudden was he calling her Becca?

_People grow up_, she told herself.

Once he turned away Rebecca jostled Matt with her elbow. "Hey, money's money, right? There are worse jobs than busboy. At least you're not cleaning floors with a toothbrush."

Matt smiled softly. "You and your endless optimism."

She shrugged. "Bright side to everything."

* * *

That night Rebecca ended up at the boardinghouse because Elena's stalker had made another appearance. He was playing a game of cat and mouse with her, trying to get in her head. Somehow he'd gotten Elena's cell number and he was using it to torment her.

"Why me?" Elena asked. "What does he want with me, and if he's trying to kill me, then why call first?"

"It's because we're predators, Elena. We hunt, we stalk. It's often as exciting as the kill."

"Well put, Stefan," Rebecca said. "Like she's not weirded out enough already."

Elena, Stefan, Damon and Rebecca - with the addition of Chelsea, sadly enough - were in the library, which could be considered the war room, she guessed. She hadn't really wanted Chelsea to come, but she'd promised to take care of her that day after she'd gotten back from the Grill; her dad was at work and her aunt had a doctor's appointment. So now . . . now she was just hoping Chelsea never repeated a word of what she was hearing.

"Are you okay? What did he do?"

"Nothing, he just stood there while he was talking to me."

_Like a creeper_, Rebecca thought.

"Did you recognize his voice or get a good look at him?"

"No. He had a hoodie on and I've never heard his voice before."

"Okay. Well either you're staying here with Stefan and Damon, or you're staying with me, or I'm staying with you, because you're not safe by yourself."

Elena looked semi-amused. "Are you telling me what to do?"

"Well, you always try to tell me what to do. I thought I'd return the favor. And technically, I'm giving you options on what you can do."

"Um . . . I'll stay with you, I guess."

"Okay, well, I'm really not supposed to be here because my grandparents are leaving tomorrow, so we should leave soon."

Rebecca got up to give Stefan and Elena some privacy but watched as Stefan gave Elena the pocket watch/compass that really belonged to Jeremy.

"I took it from Damon, who took it from Logan, who must've taken it from you."

"Why did my father have it?" Elena asked.

"The Gilberts were one of the founding families, and in 1864 they were among those who sought to eradicate the vampires. The compass was used to find us."

"Did you know them?"

"Yes. I want you to keep this. That way you'll ever know if you're in danger."

Rebecca had to bite her tongue to keep from correcting Stefan about him knowing the Gilbert's. He'd known them, all right. Well enough to eat them. Stefan had gone after the founding families with a vengeance once he'd been turned. But Rebecca kept her mouth shut and followed Damon out of the library when he nodded to the door. She didn't know what he wanted so she left Chelsea on Elena's lap.

It was a good thing she had, too, because as soon as the door was shut he had her up against it and was kissing her. She smiled against his lips and grabbed his hair.

"Really, I don't think now is the best time."

"Now is the perfect time. We should leave Stefan and Elena to their dramatics and go do something _fun_."

Damon could tell she was sorely tempted because of her lack of a negative response. He knew the reason she was reluctant was Chelsea. But he and Rebecca hadn't been able to spend much time together after their first night together due to her grandparents being in and now that he had her here he didn't want to let her go so soon.

"Your sister will be safe with Elena and Stefan here."

"Okay, but I really _do_ have to leave soon. So I can't stay the night."

Damon lifted her up, and she wrapped her legs securely around his waist, and he raced her upstairs. Her laughter as they hit the bed was the only thing he let himself focus on.

* * *

_Soon_ happened to be two hours later, and even then Rebecca didn't want to leave. There had been no biting this time because Damon was giving his other bite a time to heal. There would be a little scar there, and after the wound healed it wouldn't go away, not even with vampire blood. That was its purpose; it was Damon's mark.

"Okay, for real now, I have to go," Rebecca said, jumping around, trying to get her pants on. "But I will be back first thing after they leave. Then this weekend I have to help Care with the dance."

She slipped her shirt on and kissed him quickly before going to the door.

"Love you, Damon."

She walked out the door before he _had_ to say it back. She knew it made him uncomfortable saying those words so she wouldn't make him say them every time. She didn't mind saying them as long as they were true, and with him they were.

Elena was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs with a knowing grin on her face, and Rebecca looked away bashfully. Chelsea was young and oblivious but waiting just the same.

_God_, Rebecca thought. _I'm not going to hear the end of this anytime soon_. But then again, it was none of Elena's business what she'd been doing with Damon. Damon was her boyfriend - she kind of hated that word, because Damon was so much more than that - and she had every right to make love with him whenever she wanted to.

"Are you ready to leave?" she asked Elena.

"Lea . . ." Chelsea said, holding out her arms for Rebecca. Rebecca immediately responded and took her.

"Just waiting for you," Elena said, smiling.

"Sorry."

Elena shook her head and nodded for Rebecca to follow her out. "Come on."

Since both Elena and Rebecca had their cars, Elena followed behind Rebecca. Things were okay until they got to Rebecca's house. The vampire that attacked her was unexpected and unwelcome, and the vampire wasn't alone. There were four others.

Elena had just gotten out of her car and Rebecca was just about to get Chelsea out of her car-seat when she felt them so she left Chelsea in her seat to cry and scream. The vampires were all lean and looked sort of like poster children for famine victims.

Rebecca remembered how Lexi's boyfriend had used Elena against her and Damon. She told Elena to take her car and drive - take Chelsea and go. She didn't want Elena to stop until she heard from Rebecca again.

Surprisingly, Elena listened. And the vampire didn't move to go after the brunette, so that proved they were here for Rebecca and nothing else.

Moving with vampire speed, one of them brought a wooden spear from under his jacket. The weapon was small but the blade on it was shaped like a whaler's harpoon. Why the hell did a vampire need a weapon?

_Definitely going to stay away from that_, she told herself as she dodged to the left and rolled around. Her back slammed into Elena's car, and the spear shattered the window and she grimaced. That noise had probably alerted her neighbors that _something_ was going on outside. This being Mystic Falls, hopefully they had learned to mind their own business.

"You missed," Rebecca said, but the vampire didn't speak. None of them did. She noticed that each had weapons, which meant they didn't want anyone to think she'd been killed by a vampire. Not that she was going to die, but it _was_ five against one - it could get pointless.

She used her left hand to push the one with the spear away and she heard as a few ribs broke beneath the blow. The sternum could have been broken. The vampire fell and she grabbed the spear from the ground and swung it at the vampire's head. The head popped off like a cherry from a stem.

The four other vampires never stopped attacking even though one of their own had fallen in battle. She had to duck from a horizontal strike that would have severed her head from her shoulders. She caught the elbow of her attacker and spun him into another vampire. She delivered a right roundhouse kick that connected with the back of the neck of another vampire.

She heard his spine shatter, or maybe snap was a better word. The vampire dropped to the ground and Rebecca was relieved that he didn't get right back up. That one had to heal to be able to move.

The other three looked at Rebecca and she could tell they were rethinking things a bit. All the damage had been done in mere seconds. They still had their weapons at the ready. She reached for one of the vampires, put one hand behind his head and cupped his chin with the other, then snapped his neck. There was a very audible crack. The vampire fell to the ground; he would stay there until he healed.

The vampire with the broken ribs healed more quickly than she would've liked. The vampire whipped forward with a knife and the jagged edge left a bloody line on her cheek. It stung.

That was when the front door opened and her aunt stepped outside, and her aunt screamed. Her niece was in the front yard fighting, and one of the guys had his head cut off.

When only the last one was left, Rebecca slammed him to the ground and asked why he was there. The vampire laughed.

"You don't even know. The underworld's not so happy with you. There's a bounty on your head."

"Anna?"

"Who?"

She couldn't tell if he was lying or not but it didn't matter; the vampire needed to die now. Thankfully, her aunt had gone back in the house - Robert had probably pulled her back inside. And now the last vampire was dead. And she had to call the sheriff. Liz was there within ten minutes and then Rebecca went into the house. Her grandparents, her aunt, and her dad were in the living room. The only person who seemed surprised was Tina - that confirmed that Rebecca's grandparents did indeed know about vampires.

Tina was crying and Robert was trying to calm her down. Her grandparents were confused - not about the vampires but about Rebecca fighting them.

"I, uh, I guess we all have some explaining to do . . ." Rebecca said softly.

"You're bleeding," her grandmother said. "Come sit down."

"Yeah, okay. I have to call Elena, though. She was supposed to come over. And Damon. I have to tell him what happened."

Damon would've felt she was in danger and was probably already on his way over. She didn't want him showing up with his game face on or anything when the problem was already taken care of.

Rebecca called to tell Elena that she should stay with Stefan instead - Rebecca was not going to be able to do anything but try and comfort her aunt. Rebecca told Damon, however, that he should come over and she'd explain why once he got there. She then let her grandmother take care of her wound, though the cream she used made it hurt worse than when she'd been wounded.

"Rebecca, what were you doing?" her aunt asked. "Fighting and killing. They had weapons. And where did you learn to fight?"

"Um . . ." Rebecca looked at her dad, who shrugged infinitesimally. She guessed she should just go with the truth. "I'm the Vampire Slayer."

"You're the what?"

And so the long story began.

"Okay, I know this all started with the founding families of Mystic Falls. What I don't know is why I didn't know I was part of one," Rebecca said, looking at her grandparents.

Maria, her grandmother, looked at Arthur, Rebecca's grandfather.

"Art, you knew this day would come."

"What day?" Tina asked. "What're you talking about?"

Maria looked at her daughter with sympathy. "Honey, do you remember those stories we used to tell you about vampires and the like?"

Tina nodded and narrowed her eyes. "Yes . . ."

"They weren't so much stories as they were fact."

"What?"

"I know what you're going through," Maria said. "I went through the same thing when your father told me. Denial, anger, shock. But it's true. It's unbelievable, but it's true."

"It's why we moved," Arthur said. "We didn't want any part of the council. But by the time we'd gotten up the means to leave, Jessica was already pregnant with Rebecca and Robert wouldn't let her face it on her own."

The way Arthur had put it, Rebecca had been an accident. Not meant to happen - a surprise. Rebecca would have to think about that again later, right now . . . she had to worry about Tina.

* * *

When Damon arrived at Rebecca's house he took in the damage, first thing - five vampires were dead, one was decapitated. Rebecca had done all this?

He'd been just about to come over anyway because he'd felt that she was in trouble, but then _Elena_ had called and explained the situation. He'd been halfway to Rebecca's home when Rebecca herself had called. She was fine but she needed him to come over. He had, embarrassingly enough, the baby seat with Chelsea in it in the backseat - so not a Camaro accessory.

Damon talked to Liz for maybe a minute before he went inside with Chelsea in his arms - like he'd said, this so wasn't good for his image. He found Robert Stone pacing in the living room but he heard Rebecca talking to Tina in one of the bedrooms.

"Tina, stop. You need to calm down. This isn't good for you or the baby."

He focused on Robert now and said, "What with the bloodbath outside?" Damon had covered Chelsea's eyes when he'd seen how bad it had been.

"They attacked her at her own house. They were just . . . waiting for her to come home."

"Did Rebecca do all that or did she have help?"

"She did it herself. I watched some of it. I was going to help her, but I saw that she didn't need it. She got it done."

_She always does_, Damon thought.

"Was she hurt?"

"She got cut but she's fine. Tina saw it and she's freaking out. She thinks the solution is moving. She's packing her things as we speak. She's packing Rebecca's things; she thinks Rebecca should go with her grandparents tomorrow. Chelsea too."

"Well . . . she can't just leave." Not that Damon wouldn't drop everything and go with her, because he would, but this was her home. She had family here. Roots, friends, and she had given _him_ that. He and Stefan were finally getting along again - sort of - and he was sort of friends with Elena. He _could _be friends with Bonnie if she'd loosen up a bit, though he understood why she was afraid and she had every right to be. He was on the fence about Blondie - she was obnoxious - but he could at least be civil for Rebecca's sake.

"That's what Rebecca said. She's trying to convince Tina that her life isn't all bad. That she isn't in danger all the time."

"Hm."

Damon noticed that Robert hadn't tried to take Chelsea away from him, and that Chelsea was content to stay with him instead. He hoped Tina's baby wasn't Robert's because he was a sorry excuse for a father. If Robert hadn't been Rebecca's dad, Damon might've killed him off of principle alone.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the bedroom, Rebecca was unpacking her suitcases as her aunt filled them up. Rebecca thought stuff like that only happened in the movies.

"Aunt Tina, please!"

"Don't! You could've been killed tonight!" Her aunt grabbed the things Rebecca had removed from the traveling bag and put them back in. "I know you think your father isn't involved in your life enough, but _I_ still care if you live or die."

"But I didn't die. I'm fine. I'm good at what I do."

"And what is it that you do? All I saw was punching and kicking and - and stabbing!" Sadness overtook worry in Tina's eyes. "I don't want that for you. I don't care what Robert says."

"Well, I didn't want it either, but I got it. And I can't change it. I was chosen."

"Why you?"

"I don't know," Rebecca said, because she really didn't know. "Look, I think you should rest tonight and then we can talk in the morning. I'm not leaving Mystic Falls, so let me put my things back. Okay?"

"But . . . vampires?"

"Are everywhere, not just here. True, many are drawn here because of the energy this place gives off, but . . ." Rebecca didn't know what to do. She knew she couldn't just make her aunt be okay with all of it; it was a lot to take in. "As long as you don't invite them in, they can't get in the house."

"So we're safe in this house?"

"Yes. There are other things you can do to keep safe but you don't have to worry about them tonight."

Tina nodded but didn't move. "We're still gonna talk about this because this is not gonna be your life."

Rebecca didn't repeat the fact that she didn't have a choice; she just helped her aunt get to her room and into bed. Then she went out to the living room where her dad and Damon were talking.

"Hey," she said, feeling a sweet thrill of relief to see Damon there even though she'd seen him not even two hours before.

Damon gave a small smile and crossed the room to stand beside her. "What a night, huh?"

"Yeah, tell me about it." She gestured toward the front door. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Of course."

Now Robert did take Chelsea - mostly because Damon forced her into his arms.

Once outside, Rebecca told Damon about what the vampire had said about there being a price on her head. Damon turned furious in about two seconds flat.

"Anna?" Damon said.

"No . . . or . . . the vampire acted like he didn't know who she is. He said the "underworld is not happy with me." But . . . there's a vampire who works at the Grill, his name's Ben McKittrick. I went to school with him, and he knows me. Might be a good place to start. He probably won't be at work now but he might be tomorrow."

"I'll . . . look into it." Damon didn't know if someone she used to know was a safe bet or not. "Did he not like you when he was human?"

"He didn't _notice _me when he was human."

Rebecca looked around the front yard - she was thankful the noise hadn't brought any neighbors out of the homes - and cringed at the damage she'd caused. Some guy's head had been cut off.

"I can't believe I did all this, and that my aunt saw. I don't know how I'm gonna make her be okay."

"She'll come around."

"Will she? I mean, I'm her niece, ya know, and she's right. I could've been killed. And somebody obviously knows where I live now, so they're gonna keep coming and -"

Rebecca stopped talking because the more she spoke the more she felt like crying. Whoever had sent the vampires to her home knew where she lived, knew where her family lived, which meant that her family was in trouble, in danger, all the time. Screw what she'd told her aunt; she hadn't wanted Tina to be worried about something she had no control over but Rebecca knew they needed to be worried.

She wiped her eyes as Liz came up to them and she took a few deep breaths. She felt Damon's fingers on her back; it helped only a little.

"_What_ happened?" Liz asked. "How did you . . . do all this by yourself?"

Rebecca wasn't in the mood to explain the whole Slayer thing so she told Liz she would explain later. They just needed to get rid of the bodies now.

"I'll go with that." Liz drew a key out of her pocket. "This is the key you wanted to the incinerator room at the funeral home. I'll take care of the ones tonight and I'll come by tomorrow and you can explain everything."

"Yeah, okay."

Rebecca watched as two more cars pulled up in front of her yard. Getting rid of five bodies took more than one vehicle. She shook her head as the dead vampires were taken away. She still couldn't believe she'd done all that damage herself.

Damon tried to ignore the fact that Rebecca's fingernails were tearing into his arm. She'd grabbed hold a while ago and didn't seem to want to let go. He knew she didn't like killing even if who she killed was technically already dead. He also knew that she was willing to do it - kill - to stay alive.

"Come on," he said, drawing her closer to his side. "Let's get you inside."

* * *

It was after midnight when things finally settled down at Rebecca's house. Damon left to move his car and then came right back. Rebecca didn't protest; she felt better when he was around, and she knew he'd do anything to keep her safe.

Damon knew she was worried about her family - for all that she complained about them he knew she still cared and didn't want anything to happen to them. Here he and she were, laying on her bed with the TV on and the door locked - she'd gotten it fixed almost as soon as it had gotten damaged. She was twisted in the sheets, asleep, but she had talked for almost an hour about what they needed to do.

How was she supposed to keep her family safe now? She couldn't stay home all the time. What if her aunt had problems with the baby due to all this extra stress - that was leftover worry from her _mother's_ pregnancy problems. And so on and so forth the list of questions went. And they were questions Damon couldn't answer because, even though he'd been alive - or whatever - for almost 170 years, there was no easy way to answer questions like that.

Yes, he could've said that she _couldn't_ keep her family safe all the time, and it wasn't her job to anyway. And he could've said if the baby was lost because of all this then the baby would just be dead, but what would be the point? Rebecca knew all that already and it would only hurt her further if he said it out loud. And what he was worried about wasn't her family or the baby, though he had no problem with either. He was worried about _her_ - and Chelsea, a little. The added stress could make Rebecca lose her head; make her make mistakes she normally wouldn't. And Rebecca had pointed out the problem earlier: Someone who wanted her dead knew where she lived and seemed okay with sending loose cannons her way.

Maybe it was the Ben guy but Damon didn't think that made any sense. It he hadn't paid any attention to her when he'd been human, he probably wouldn't now either. And if he did have a problem with Rebecca, he could've come after her himself. He'd had the chance after Rebecca had met him at the Grill. Besides, new vampires didn't usually have any power over other vampires.

At least he knew she could keep herself safe even if he wasn't here. She'd done some serious damage and she hated herself for it - he knew that for a fact. She knew it had to be done so she'd done it; she didn't have to like it.

* * *

The day after the front yard incident Rebecca's grandparents still left even though they were worried. They offered Rebecca the chance to come with them if she wanted to get away from everything. She didn't take the offer but she did see them off at the airport with her dad. Then came talking to the sheriff. She'd promised to explain everything and she did. She talked to both Liz and Tina at the same time to save herself the trouble of having to go over everything twice.

Liz was fairly nice about the whole thing. She was okay with the Vampire Slayer thing; Rebecca was still human, so she was okay. Her exact words were, "We can use all the help we can get."

And Tina was 'coming around' as Damon had put it. She realized Rebecca couldn't help it, and Tina was okay with the fact that Rebecca had the entire Council watching her back. Not that the Council would be any help at all; half the time they didn't know their asses from a hole in the ground. But whatever made her aunt feel better was alright with Rebecca.

That weekend she still helped Caroline with the dance. She wasn't going to stop living her life because of some whacked out death thing. Yes, vampires were after her, but until they attacked again she wasn't going to worry about it; if she did, it would drive her nuts.

She, Matt and Caroline were in the front lawn of the school, in the picnic area, making banners for the dance. Caroline was telling everybody what to do - she was a control freak sometimes. It didn't annoy Rebecca as much as it used to so she obeyed with grace.

"You know, I don't think I've ever seen you such a mess," Matt teased Caroline.

The blond cheerleader had blue paint on her arms and clothes but she seemed happy, at least. That was what mattered.

"Don't talk smack," Caroline said, slapping a line of blue paint onto Matt's arm.

"I _mean_ I just thought you told everyone else what to do."

Matt threatened Caroline with his own paintbrush and she backed away laughing.

"Well, I do that too. But if you want something done right, you've gotta do it yourself. You know, I just like that we're hanging out. Who knew you and me?"

Matt smiled and went back to work. "Well, who knew you could be fun?"

"So what're you wearing to this dumb dance, anyway? Should we color coordinate?"

"Um, I'm not goin'," Matt admitted.

"Why not?"

"I've gotta work. I'm busing tables at the Grill?"

Caroline scoffed. "Since when are you a busboy?"

"It's a job," Matt said, taking offense. "You know, some of us have to work, Caroline. With my mom in and out, things are tight right now."

"Well, I didn't mean it like _that_. I just meant that I didn't know you have a job."

"Well, I do. I gotta go."

Matt cleaned up his work space and left, leaving a worried and hurt Caroline behind.

"Boys are so fragile," Rebecca said gently. "And they think we're the needy ones."

Caroline smiled a bit. "I know, right. I . . . really didn't mean -"

"I know. He'll get over it. He's just a little touchy on the subject, apparently."

"Yeah." Caroline began painting again. "Are you gonna ditch me, too?"

Caroline's tone was bitter and Rebecca shook her head. "I don't ditch my friends, Care."

The blond nodded and smiled. "I know, I'm sorry. Just . . . sometimes I think I should keep my mouth shut. I always say the wrong thing."

Rebecca shook her head. "You're . . . you say what's on your mind. That's not the same thing as saying the wrong thing. If Matt is going to be with you, he's going to have to accept every part of you. The insecurities, the control issues. He gets the bad and the good, Care."

"Yeah."

"And . . ." Rebecca smiled and leaned in like she was letting Caroline in on a big conspiracy. "I have it on _very_ good authority that he likes you and doesn't want to mess things up with you. He told me himself that you're one of the only good things he has left."

"Really?"

"Really really."

Caroline smiled brighter but then carefully looked away. "You got a cut on your face. I didn't want to ask with Matt here, but what happened?"

"Uh . . . Knife, a few days ago. I got into a fight."

Word had gotten around about the fight, of course, this being a small town and all, but the sheriff had made it out to be a lot less brutal than it was.

"With . . . Damon?" Caroline looked her square in the eyes and Rebecca knew Caroline was thinking about how Damon had treated _her_.

"Not with Damon. Damon wouldn't do this to me. He knows I'd kick his ass."

Caroline smiled at that and nodded. "Okay. I just wanted to be sure. I know people can change when they find someone they really like, but it seems a little fast, don't you think?"

"Doesn't it?"

Rebecca knew it felt that way to everyone else because they hadn't known him when he'd been human. They didn't understand him. Caroline knew nothing about him, and Bonnie and Elena didn't know the story about his transformation, how he hadn't wanted it.

"Are you going to the dance?" Caroline asked.

Rebecca shrugged. "I don't know. Hadn't really thought about it. I don't really have anything to wear."

Caroline bit her lip and smiled mischievously. "I can help, and you can sign up as a chaperone. Damon can come too if he signs up."

"Uh-uh. I know that look and it means you're up to something."

"I am not up to _anything_." Her smile widened. "Much. _Please_ come. I have the perfect idea for you."

"Ugh!" Rebecca groaned. "I'm gonna regret this, but . . . okay."

* * *

Later that same day, after Rebecca was done helping Caroline, Rebecca went to the boardinghouse with Elena. They were supposed to help Stefan and Damon look through their father's journal from 1864. They needed to find any mentions of Emily of the vampires. Rebecca had asked Bonnie to help but the young witch was still a little uncomfortable with the vampire thing.

They walked into the library, their meeting room. Stefan and Damon were already working. Together, without fighting. She wasn't going to say anything, though, because they'd probably stop if she made a big deal out of it.

"So . . . why're we doing this?" Elena asked.

"We want to know if it's possible to open the tomb," Stefan said. "If it _is_, then we have to stop Anna before she does it. If not -"

"Then we can all go away happy," Damon said. "And focus on the real problem, which is someone is after Rebecca and someone is after Elena."

"Someone's after you?" Elena asked Rebecca. "It's nice to be kept in the loop."

"Well, you have your own stuff to worry about, and it's not like you can do anything about it." Before Elena could start huffing Rebecca turned to Damon. "Do you think it's the same person? That's after us?"

"Probably not. The guy who's after Elena is more direct; he's coming after her himself. This other guy is sending others to do his dirty work. So . . . Add another problem because it's probably not the same person who wanted those books about you - or Slayers in general - either. He didn't want you killed and this guy does." A slight pause for Damon to get a breath he wouldn't need if he weren't talking. "Have you talked to Diana about it?"

"No. I hate talking to her about this stuff. I don't trust her. She almost got me killed, on purpose! If I didn't know the Council would send someone else I'd send her away."

A few minutes later Elena said, "So I guess this means you _haven't_ had time to check Katherine's background?"

"Mm-mm. Too much stuff to worry about already." Rebecca looked at Elena. "Have you asked Jenna yet?"

"No," Elena answered sheepishly. "But I will. Soon."

"Procrastinator," Damon teased. "Or chicken, whichever you prefer."

Elena was obviously getting used to Damon's bluntness because she barely even glared.

"There's no mention of Katherine or the tomb or how to open it. There's nothing about Emily, either," Stefan said. "Not in this one."

Stefan put the journal in a pile of others that he and Damon had already been through.

"I'm not surprised. The man could barely spell his own name," Damon said.

"So . . . does he write as dull as he talked?" Rebecca asked, irreverently. She'd had no respect for the man, whether he was alive or dead.

Damon handed her one of the journals. "Why don't you find out?"

"Yeah, yeah."

* * *

About two hours into reading the very dull writings of Giuseppe Salvatore Rebecca had a sort of . . . revelation. Her mind was going in circles from reading - Giuseppe had written in riddles sometimes. But Stefan was right. There was nothing about the vampires or the tomb or anything else. Not in these journals. That was because . . .

"Uh . . . Please don't hate me because I just remembered this, but . . . we're looking in the wrong place."

"Obviously," Damon said, looking at her. "Where _should_ we be looking, pray tell?"

"Jonathan Gilbert's journal, like Anna said. Emily told me that the key to opening the tomb is in Jonathan Gilbert's journal. A Bennett witch could open it if they can get the journal." Rebecca put the book she'd been reading back on the table since it was useless. "I'm gonna head home. Leaving my family alone at night worries me more than it used to."

"Here, I'll walk you out." Damon got up and they went outside to her car. "So I checked out that Ben kid and he's too new to have people follow him like that. It's not him. Whoever it is, they probably don't even live here or they'd come after you personally."

"Hm. Probably true. Okay, well, I'll . . . see you later, okay? Good luck getting the Gilbert journal. Uh, I know Jeremy was using it for a report - maybe Elena can get it for us?"

"Yeah, okay." He kissed her forehead and then tapped her on the nose. Damon thought she looked tired but still beautiful. Her green eyes had dulled from exhaustion, but he still saw her natural fire in them. It gave them a sort of unnatural glow, but he liked it. It showed she was alive. "Get some rest, okay?"

"Yeah, will do."

She kissed his lips firmly and then got in her car to go home.

* * *

Okay, so here's the latest chapter/offering, whichever you prefer. Okay, so I don't usually do this, but I just realized I'm seriously lacking Damon/Rebecca/Chelsea moments. I was wondering if I should keep it that way or add some more moments in there with them? If so any ideas would be appreciated. Or if you think it would take away from the plot to add random moments in then let me know that too. The way I've written it there aren't that many in the future but I DO add to the relationship naturally. So . . . let me know what you guys think!

Love you guys.


	38. Chapter 33

Previously on The Vampire Diaries: Rebecca was attacked by a group of five vampires and she was shocked that she had taken care of them by herself. Damon realizes that she hates the part of herself that can let go like that. Damon, Stefan, Elena and Rebecca are going through the founders journals trying to find information about the grimoire and/or the tomb.

Enjoy!

Chapter Thirty-Three

The next few days were filled with training, reading through journals that weren't Jonathan Gilbert's, and letting Caroline think up an outfit for Rebecca for the dance. Rebecca decided to be afraid of what Caroline would make her wear.

The night of the dance Rebecca was standing in her room, putting her outfit on. She couldn't believe what she was wearing, what Caroline _wanted_ her to wear. Think Sandy at the end of _Grease_. The form-fitting black pants, the shirt that hung from her shoulders, even the high heels. The open-toed shoes were red like Sandy's had been and the heels were made from wood. She kind of wanted to see if she could stake a vampire with them.

Rebecca had Elena on speakerphone - they were both getting ready while talking.

"So . . . I finally talked to Jenna," Elena admitted. "About the adoption. She said my mom was gonna tell me, she just never got the chance."

"Oh . . . Did she say anything else?"

"Uh . . . It was a woman named Isobel. She was sixteen. My dad delivered the baby and she disappeared. My parents kept me, obviously. It was like you said - my dad put their names of the birth certificate so they would have proof, documentation."

"Wow." Rebecca didn't know how she'd feel if _she_ found that out, so she definitely didn't know how Elena felt. "Are you okay? I mean . . . do you need a hug or something because I can come over right now and give you one."

"Uh . . ." Elena giggled. "I think I'm okay."

"Okay, just checking."

"Anyway, I gotta go. This compass thing is spinning, so I think Stefan's here."

"Okay, I'll see you at the dance."

It wasn't long after they hung up that Elena called back to say she'd been attacked by a vampire in the house, and it wasn't Stefan or Damon. So . . . who the hell had it been? Instead of them meeting at the dance, Rebecca went to Elena's house. The Salvatore brothers were already there. They and Elena were in the living room and she was explaining the situation.

"Well, how'd he get in?" Damon asked, which was a valid question because vampires couldn't enter a house without an invitation.

"He was invited in," Elena said.

"He posed as a pizza delivery guy last night," Stefan added.

"Well, he gets points for that. Did he say what he wanted?"

"No, he was too busy trying to kill me."

"And you have no idea who this is?" Stefan asked, looking at Damon.

"No." Stefan just looked at him like he wasn't sure whether or not to believe his brother. "Don't look at me like that. I _told_ you we had company."

"Hm. Damon, he was invited in."

Damon nodded knowingly. "Then we go get him tonight." He looked at Elena. "You up for it?"

"What do I have to do?" Elena asked softly.

"Let your boyfriend take you to the dance. We'll . . . see who shows up."

"That's a bad idea, Damon," Stefan said.

"I don't think there's another option," Rebecca said. "This guy's after Elena, so let him come. Then we'll take care of him."

"Take care of him, as in . . ." Elena shook her head. "You mean you have to . . ."

"Kill him, Elena," Damon finished for her. "Until we get him this house isn't safe. For anyone who lives in it. It's worth a shot."

"I'll do it," Elena said after a considerable amount of consideration. "I'll be with you guys. I'll be safe."

Stefan and Elena took Elena's car while Rebecca rode with Damon in his Camaro. That's when he mentioned the outfit.

"You know, that's completely indecent for you to wear in public. It leaves nothing to the imagination," Damon teased.

"What's to imagine? I have breasts and a vagina. Hopefully the boys already know that." She realized her tone was snappish so she took a deep breath. "Sorry."

"You're in a bad mood," Damon said, not judging but curious.

"No, I'm not. I just . . . I feel a little weird. I've been working a lot lately. Between reading and training and patrolling I've kind of been all-work-and-no-play Rebecca. I wanted to have fun tonight - or as much fun as you can at a school dance, anyway. But . . . instead I'm vampire hunting again. And maybe you haven't noticed but I've been absent from your life a lot recently, and I don't like it."

"I've noticed," Damon admitted. "My _bed _noticed. It's gotten cold and lonely without you in it."

"Yeah. I just . . . I feel like I have to train and stay on top of things because of all the things that are going on. And it's exhausting. And I know if I asked you, you'd help with _anything_ but I don't like pushing my responsibilities onto someone else. They're mine to deal with."

"Well . . ." Damon looked at her briefly. "Why not share? You do everything for me, without me even asking you to. Don't you know I'd do the same for you? And it's not pushing if I'm offering, which I am. Right now."

Rebecca smiled softly at him and moved closer to him. What Damon was saying was true, and it made sense in a tit for tat mentality. She'd just have to find a way to share the load without making her feel like she was giving it to someone else.

* * *

When they arrived at the dance _This Magic Moment_ was playing loudly over the speakers in the gym. It made Rebecca worry about Damon's and Stefan's sensitive hearing. They wouldn't bust an eardrum or anything, would they?

There were balloons and streamers everywhere, and a couple of refreshment tables were placed to the side near the bleachers.

Rebecca talked to Caroline and Bonnie for a minute. Caroline was not having fun but she'd worked hard on her outfit so she was going to stay for at least an hour. Bonnie was only there because Caroline had pleaded for her to come.

Rebecca kept looking around but she couldn't home her Slayer radar in this crowd. If Damon hadn't been right beside her then . . . she wouldn't have even been able to find him. How the hell was she supposed to hunt in this din?

_Hunt?_ she wondered. _No. Patrol. I patrol, I don't hunt._ Though she realized then that she'd made the mistake of saying hunting when she'd been talking to Damon in the car earlier that night.

Rebecca noticed the music wasn't really from the 50s but more from the 70s and 80s - only with a 50s vibe to them.

A lot of the students got in a line to dance when _Car_ _Wash_ came on and they sang along. Elena had to beg Stefan to participate - he seemed embarrassed about dancing in public - but Damon made himself right at home in the mass of teenagers. Rebecca had to grin at how easy it was for him to blend in. She was glad she had come - Damon was entertaining to watch.

Rebecca hummed along when _I Will Survive_ came on and then she mentioned how sad it was that she knew these songs. She could go on forever about music, though, because she loved it.

_Tears of a Clown_ came on next and she was having a genuinely good time now. Elena was dancing with Stefan, Caroline was dancing with Bonnie, and Rebecca had Damon. They were all having fun, which was what she had wanted. It wasn't very often she got to see all of her friends happy at once, so she was going to enjoy it while it lasted.

Damon began doing some dance Rebecca had never seen before and she giggled as others began watching him too. She slow danced with him once to _When a Man Loves a Woman _- it was the only slow song of the evening.

When _Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head_ came on she said, "Top secret information? I love this song."

"That's because you're Miss Optimistic."

She even dirty danced - or as dirty as one could dance at a school dance - with him. It was a bad idea though because she could feel him harden against her whenever his body touched hers. And seemed to love the pants.

"Do you have any idea what I want to do to you right now?" he asked, lips close to her ear. She shivered when she felt his breath on her skin.

"I can think of a few things."

Finally Rebecca _had_ to get a drink; she'd been dancing nonstop for about an hour and a half. She went to hang out with Jeremy, who had been stuck with punch duty - he was failing English so he'd copped a plea.

"Hey, you," she said, coming up behind him and jumping onto his back.

"Becca, hey!" She let go and he spun around to smile at her. She'd always loved his smile - when he was really happy he had this everything's-awesome-brilliantly-adorable smile. "Uh . . . nice outfit?"

"Ugh! Don't even. Caroline made me wear this."

"Figures. You wouldn't wear something like that on your own. But all the guys are thanking Caroline right now."

Rebecca blushed and looked away. She didn't care about the other guys or what they were thinking, but the fact that _Jeremy_ had pointed that out made her a little embarrassed. Since he was kind of like a kid brother, he shouldn't have noticed things like that.

"You neglected to mention this was a theme party," a new but familiar voice said. Anna. Rebecca hadn't felt her because, like she'd feared, there were too many people here.

"Anna," Jeremy said. "What're you doin' here?"

"Mm. Seeing as you also neglected to invite me, I took matters into my own hands."

_Well, if he neglected to invite you, it's probably because he doesn't want you here_, Rebecca thought seethingly.

"You're doin' that thing again," Jeremy said.

"What thing would that be?"

"The thing where you pretend we're dating even though we're not," Jeremy pointed out.

"Oh. You mean stalking? Yeah." Anna nodded and scoffed. "Get over yourself. Come on, I've never been to a school dance before. Humor me."

"Um . . . I'm gonna go," Rebecca said. "I'll leave you two alone."

Rebecca needed to talk to Stefan and Damon. Maybe Elena's stalker wasn't here, but Anna was. And that couldn't be good news.

Damon was standing off to the side talking to some guy in a Letterman's jacket. Said guy was . . . Alaric Saltzman, the new history teacher. Rebecca recognized him as she drew closer to the two.

"Hey, I don't recognize you. How'd you get roped into chaperoning?" Damon sort of gave the guy a _what the hell are you talking to me for_ look. "Alaric Saltzman. I'm the new history teacher."

The guys shook hands and Rebecca stopped by Damon's side. Whenever these two were done she'd spill.

"Damon Salvatore."

"Salvatore? As in, uh, Stefan?"

"He's my little brother. I'm his legal guardian. Hence the chaperoning."

"I hear he's very bright, not that I've had a chance to see for myself."

"Well, his attendance record's a little spotty. Family drama."

"No parents?"

"Obviously not, if he's the legal guardian." Rebecca's word vomit came into play. "Sometimes I just . . . shouldn't say words."

"Forget about it. You look really familiar. Do you go to school here?" Alaric asked her.

"Used to. Rebecca Stone. I would've been in your class, but -"

"You graduated early. Yeah. I got the memo. It's too bad. You were a straight A student. I'd have been honored to have taught you."

Hm. This guy was acting extremely . . . odd. That was a quick way to get one's self killed in Mystic Falls.

"You, uh, you live here your whole life?" he went back to Damon.

"On and off. Travel a bit."

"Really? Where? Around the states?"

"You ask way too many questions," Rebecca said, and this time it wasn't word vomit - she'd meant to say it. "And this time I'm not sorry for saying it."

The history teacher chuckled. "I'm sorry. I'm nosy. I don't mean to pry. It was nice meeting you."

"You, too."

"Enjoy the rest of the dance." He walked away and both Rebecca and Damon's eyes followed him as he went.

"That wasn't suspicious at all," Damon muttered.

"I know, right. I didn't like him. And Anna's here. She was talking to Jeremy, which leads me to think he hasn't shown her the journal; she wouldn't be hanging out with him otherwise."

"Probably right."

"Will you . . . stay here? Because I'd like to talk to Anna alone. She'll probably respond better if it's just me."

"Fine. You have fifteen minutes, starting the minute you walk out that door."

"Yeah, yeah."

It wasn't hard for her to find Anna. She was in the hallway near the history room. Hm . . . maybe she knew Alaric.

"Hey," she said, and Anna turned to her.

"What d'you want?" Anna sounded like she didn't want to be disturbed right now, like maybe Rebecca had distracted her from something.

"To talk," Rebecca said simply. "Are you sending people after me?"

"Why would I do that? I told you, as long as you don't get in my way, we don't have a problem. You haven't gotten in my way."

"Right. Do you know of anybody who _would_ send trouble my way?"

"One of the countless vampires you've probably pissed off by being a good Slayer."

"Hm. Are you -" Rebecca broke off when she heard a scream and Anna zipped away.

_Damn it_! She took off after the sound and arrived in the cafeteria just as Stefan was stabbing some guy in the stomach with a wooden stake. Probably the vampire who'd been after Elena, since Elena was there too. Damon was there helping the brunette off the floor.

"Why're you doing this?" Stefan asked him.

"Because it's fun."

Damon actually smirked at that, and Rebecca rolled her eyes.

"What do you want with Elena?"

"She looks like Katherine," the guy said.

"You knew Katherine?" Damon asked.

"Aw . . . you thought you were the only ones. That bitch ruined my life."

"Are you working with Anna? Trying to help her open the tomb?" Rebecca asked.

"Yes."

"Did she know you were after Elena?" Stefan asked, twisting the stake around.

"She told me not to!" the guy groaned out.

"Maybe you should've listened," Damon said. "Why does Anna want Jonathan Gilbert's journal?"

"The grimoire. She wants the location of the grimoire; she thinks it's in the journal."

"Emily's spell book?" Rebecca asked. "The book would tell her how to reverse the spell on the tomb."

"Yes."

"Who else are you working with?" Damon asked.

The guy wouldn't talk so Stefan killed him. He had to die anyway because he'd been invited into Elena's house. Mr. Saltzman almost interrupted their little torture session but Damon went, compelled him to tell what he was doing, and found out Alaric was just a history teacher - but he was still nosy.

Elena generously offered to cover for Rebecca if she wanted to stay at the boardinghouse with Damon, and she accepted. Maybe Elena only tolerated Damon, but she was slowly warming up to him. And she didn't complain as much about him to Rebecca anymore, which was a plus.

"Hey, uh . . . about Katherine," Rebecca started. "I finally looked. She didn't have a baby, Elena - or if she did, it was kept secret. Her line stops with her."

"Where did you learn that?" Elena asked.

"In a book. Katherine Pierce was also known as Katerina Petrova. She was born in Bulgaria in the late 1400s. I don't know how it happened but her family was killed, slaughtered in their own house."

"Was that before or after she became a vampire?"

"I wanna say after, but I'm really not sure."

"Oh. Well, thanks for looking anyway."

"No problem." Rebecca really didn't mind helping; it was in the top five things of reasons she got up every morning. "Uh . . . can I say a couple things without you getting angry?"

"Sure."

"Okay. Number one: Jeremy's hanging out with Anna. She wants Jonathan Gilbert's journal. Obviously. Number two: I know how you feel about Jeremy getting involved in all this, but he should know. He wouldn't have invited that guy in if he'd known. This wouldn't have happened, he would have given that vampire an all access pass to your house. You know I'm right about that, and I'm not gonna argue with you, but at least think about it, okay?"

With that, Rebecca said her good-byes and went to find Damon.

* * *

"God, how tight are these pants?" Damon said. He was trying to get the offensive things off of Rebecca without ripping them, but it was like trying to remove a second skin.

Rebecca giggled and helped shimmy out of them. She wouldn't have really cared if he'd torn them - she was _never_ wearing them again. She removed her shirt and strapless bra as he worked on the pants and panties. Once the material was off he kissed his way up her body and had her squirming in anticipation. Sometimes she wished he'd just . . . take her without teasing. But Damon seemed to like it best when she was impatient and ready to scream for him.

"Do you trust me?" Damon asked, smirking.

"Yes," she said instantly, though she was a little wary because when he asked that it was usually because he wanted to do something she might not want to. Or in this case . . . hadn't done before.

"Turn over."

"What?"

"Turn over," he repeated patiently. She obeyed and Damon began stroking her back, encouraging her. "Now, get on your knees."

Rebecca listened even though she was a little shaky and nervous. This required complete trust on her part because she couldn't see what he was going to do now. But Damon knew she'd never been with anyone but him so he also knew she'd never done this before. Anything sexual _he_ had taught her. She'd only done these things with him.

"Prop yourself up however you're comfortable with."

She placed her hands on the headboard and squeezed.

"Okay, now . . ." He kissed her spine a few times and she breathed with each one. "Most importantly, relax."

He positioned himself at her wet entrance and he slid in more gently than he normally would have because he'd done little to no preparing her for this and she shook from the sensations he was causing in her. She moved her body to meet his and almost screamed when he hit her spot on the first thrust in.

"Fuck!" Damon exclaimed. "I've wanted to do this all night." He moved again when he felt her adjust to his size. "When we were dancing. When I watched you walk out the door of the gym." He snapped his hips forward and felt his stomach clench in a _really_ good way when she gasped as he hit her spot again. "I blame it on those pants."

Damon was in so much ecstasy at the moment that it was almost painful. Taking a woman from behind was always . . . empowering. And the fact that it was Rebecca submitting to this was even better; it made the predator part of him purr like a kitten.

She was so _tight_ this way that when she squeezed around him it was almost like she was trying to lock him inside her body. She was also more vocally responsive this way. She moaned and cried out and repeated his name like a mantra. She pushed back against his body with all the force she could muster. She wanted him to go deeper and thrust harder. All she had to do was say the word and she got what she wanted.

Her arms began shaking from holding herself up, and Damon slipped his arms around her and pulled her to him. Her back was now pressed right up to his chest. Her arm automatically came up to clutch at the back of his head. His mouth latched onto the side of her neck - just to kiss and nibble, not to really bite - and she pulled his hair a little.

"Oh, Damon, I - I -"

She was so, so _close_ and she usually found she couldn't speak coherently when she was that close. He moved her hair to the side and she knew _now_ he was going to really bite. It just made her grip his hair tighter.

The hand that wasn't attacking his head traveled down to her nether regions and she began touching herself. She heard the little groan Damon let out and knew that he was probably looking down over her shoulder and watching what she was doing. Then his hand covered hers and, even though he was letting her pleasure herself, his fingers moved with hers.

She suddenly wished they had a mirror - she'd never wished that before, but she wanted to see what they looked like this way. One of Damon's arms was right under her breasts to keep her from falling forward; one of her arms was held up so her hand could grip his hair. Then their other arm's were together, each of their hands bringing her higher. She wanted to see - she could imagine it - their bodies shining with sweat, moving together.

Only when she was clenching around him from her climax did he sink his fangs into her flesh. Then . . . something happened that had never happened before. His bite made her come again. And it felt . . . wonderful. She actually had to keep herself from screaming out from the pleasure. This was happening to her whole body.

"Oh!" She really hadn't expected that to happen; she hadn't known it could. "Oh, yes!"

Their hands were still moving together and it seemed she was having a never ending orgasm, because as soon as one ended the next began. Not that she was complaining.

That was when Damon began moving faster and harder, and her body moved right along with his. He stopped drinking from her but she could still feel his human teeth biting into her shoulder. He spilled himself inside her in long, hot spurts and they fell to the bed, him still on her back, and she let out a small _oomph_!

Damon was licking her neck where he'd bitten her - cleaning it probably - and she felt him trembling. She was glad that had been just as intense for him as it had been for her.

A small _zing_ ran through her body and she realized their arms were trapped under her and Damon was moving his hand with hers against her almost _abused_ clit - she'd been going fast and furious there at the end; she was even a little sore - and she could feel another orgasm coming. She let him continue because why stop when it felt good.

This one was small compared to the other ones but it still made her shiver and whisper his name. Afterwards, though . . .

"Oh, I can't anymore. Damon, I . . . I can barely move."

She literally couldn't; her body was exhausted. Damon moved, but the fact that he'd collapsed onto her after that very . . . satisfying experience . . . hadn't had anything to do with why she couldn't move. Between the dancing and the sex, she was too tired to do anything but lay there.

After a few moments of quiet bliss she felt her neck where he had drank from her. There were only two puncture wounds - nothing major - and she'd already stopped bleeding on her own. It would be healed by the time she had to go home the next day.

Finding her energy again, she moved to him and got comfortable.

"Most of tonight was fun, and at least we got rid of Elena's stalker guy."

"Mm."

Damon wasn't very talkative after sex - especially sex like that - but he didn't mind listening. Rebecca obviously didn't want to talk a lot that night, though, because she just curled up against him, pecking him on the cheek, and put her head on his chest.

"Love you," she said, already half-asleep.

He answered back, and this time it wasn't forced. He said it naturally. He felt her smile against him, and she hummed in contentment.

* * *

The next day Rebecca and Elena talked to Jeremy about the Gilbert journal, and found out he'd loaned it to Mr. Saltzman, the nosy history teacher. Stefan volunteered to go get it when Elena told him about it, which Rebecca was thankful for because she was sure if Damon had gone, the history teacher would've wound up dead. Damon was suspicious of him anyway. Damon might've gotten rid of him for being nosy.

They all were going to meet up at the Gilbert residence that night. They were having family night and, ever since her parents accident, Elena didn't like leaving on that night.

The only one missing was Stefan. Damon, Elena, Rebecca and Jenna were in the kitchen. Jeremy was in the living room playing a video game.

"Jeremy, come in here and stop being such a loner!" Rebecca said loudly.

"Or you could come in here and play the game with me,!" he shouted back.

"I'm gonna go bring him in here," she said.

Damon was the one cooking, though Rebecca had been a little wary about letting him have a sharp object around people that weren't her. But he was behaving, though he kept pouring Jenna wine. Maybe he needed her tipsy for some reason.

Rebecca went into the living room, which was right by the kitchen, and watched Jeremy get absorbed with his racing game. "Come on. I'm gonna unplug that."

"No, no, no. I'll come in there when dinner's ready."

"All it has to do is boil," Damon said. "If Rebecca will come watch the food, I'll race you."

"Do you even know how to play?" Rebecca asked.

"It's a device and a controller; it can't be too hard."

"Okay, okay. Have fun then."

Rebecca went back into the kitchen and heard Jenna say, "He is ridiculously hot. How on earth did you get him?"

Jenna wasn't being offensive; she was genuinely curious.

"Shh," Elena said. "He's an ass."

Elena had a box in front of her full of her family's things. It was mostly junk stuff, nothing vital.

"What're you doing with all this stuff?" Jenna asked.

"I thought there might be something about my birth parents." Elena sounded disappointed, so Rebecca assumed she hadn't found anything remotely helpful.

"Have you told Jeremy?"

"I will when the time is right."

* * *

At the school Stefan had sneaked into the history classroom to find that Alaric Saltzman had been ready for him. With some kind of stake gun. It really was a master piece.

Stefan had had no problem catching the stake that had been fired from the weapon, but it was still a good piece of work. Alaric was quickly reloading the gun, but Stefan was quicker. He ran to the teacher and snatched the weapon away from him.

"You shouldn't have done that," Stefan said, pushing Alaric into the first row of desks.

The teacher fell to the floor but got up as fast as he could, grabbing onto the desks.

"Have a seat, " Stefan said.

When Alaric looked at him questioningly, Stefan nodded his head at one of the desks and Alaric slowly sat down. He was on alert, though, and Stefan understood why. Stefan was a vampire; Alaric was probably just waiting for him to attack.

"What is this?" he asked, looking down at the weapon. "Compressed air? Did you make if yourself? Who are you?"

Stefan moved closer to the teacher and saw that Alaric was clenching his hands into fists, getting ready to attack him. Or more than likely getting ready to defend himself if Stefan attacked him.

"I'm not gonna hurt you," Stefan said sincerely. "Unless you try that again."

As a show of good faith Stefan handed the weapon back to Alaric, who took it hesitantly. He probably couldn't believe what Stefan was doing. He was a vampire, after all.

Stefan sat down in another desk, across from Alaric, and began contemplating what to do next. He didn't want to have to hurt Alaric, but he did need some answers.

"Now, who are you?"

"I'm a teacher," Alaric answered simply.

Stefan chuckled. "Are we gonna have to do this the hard way?"

"I'm also a historian. And while researching Virginia, I made a few discoveries about your town."

"So you show up like Van Helsing? Come on, tell me the truth."

"My wife was a parapsychologist," Alaric said. "She spent her life researching paranormal activity in this area. It was her work that led me here."

"Where's your wife now?"

"Dead. A vampire killed her."

Ah. Stefan could see where this was going. A vampire had killed Alaric's wife and now he had a mission. Killing vampires, hoping maybe one day he'd find the one that killed his wife. He was on a vengeance kick.

"Where's the Gilbert journal?"

Stefan had deliberately changed the subject to throw the teacher off guard.

"On my desk," Alaric said gesturing to the desk.

"No, it's not."

Alaric looked and, sure enough, it wasn't there. "It _was_ on my desk. I didn't move it."

Stefan clenched his jaw. If Alaric didn't have it - if the teacher wasn't lying . . . that meant that Anna probably had it. Damn it.

"How long have you been aware of me?"

"I learned just recently," Alaric answered. "When I met your brother."

"You met Damon."

"Who do you think killed my wife?" Alaric asked stoically.

"Are you certain it was Damon?"

"I witnessed it."

"If you're here for revenge, this is going to end very badly for you."

"I just wanna find out what happened to my wife."

"I thought you just said -"

"I saw him draining the life out of her. He must've heard me coming because he just disappeared. So did her body. They never found her."

"I'm sorry," Stefan said. "But Damon can never know why you're here. He'll kill you without blinking."

"I can take care of myself."

"No, you can't. But I can help you, if you'll let me."

* * *

When Stefan showed up at the Gilbert residence he didn't have the journal. Someone had taken it from the teacher, stolen it off his desk.

"Anna," Rebecca surmised. "She has it, and now she can . . . _not_ open the tomb."

"What do you mean?" Elena asked. "She has the journal now."

"Well, yeah, she has the journal but she doesn't have the grimoire. But even if she did, Anna lacks a crucial ingredient. A witch, and a powerful one at that. Emily told me a witch had to break the spell, so we're safe until she gets that grimoire and a witch."

"Bonnie?" Elena suggested.

"Not strong enough," Rebecca said. "She's not practicing like she should be. She couldn't do it alone."

Jeremy suddenly walked outside and began walking down the steps.

"Where are you going?" Elena asked.

"To the Grill. I'm meeting Anna there."

Sometimes Fate just hit you in the head.

"You - it's family night."

"Yeah, right. Jenna's passed out on the couch."

Rebecca looked at Damon for a second. He looked at her innocently. Damon had obviously put something in Jenna's drink. She didn't envy her the headache Jenna was likely to have when she woke up.

Elena went back in the house because her phone was ringing, and Damon offered to drive Jeremy to the Grill - for his own purposes, obviously.

When Elena was done Stefan and Rebecca went up to Elena's room. Stefan had finally done something right in that Mr. Saltzman had made a copy of the journal before it had been taken and Stefan said Alaric had _loaned_ it to him. Rebecca couldn't think why Mr. Saltzman would've wanted a copy of the journal - other than the fact that it had been written back in the Civil War days - because she had too much on her mind already.

They each took a section of the journal and began reading through the parts about Emily or the vampires.

_The Fells thought it should be I, not them, who protected the witch's spell book, but I feared she would haunt me from the hereafter. They mocked my fear, but it was Giuseppe Salvatore who removed my fear. He told me he would protect the secret of the spell book. He said he would carry it to the grave._

"I know where it is," Stefan said.

"His grave?" Rebecca joked.

"Yes."

"Oh, he was being literal when he said that?"

"Yes."

Rebecca had forgotten how literal Giuseppe had been. He hadn't had a sense of humor, just like Stefan didn't now.

"So . . . we have to . . . dig him up?" Elena asked. "Tonight?"

"Yes. We can go now. Damon is going to track Anna, so we shouldn't be disturbed."

* * *

Once Damon dropped Jeremy off at the Grill he picked up Anna's scent and it led him to a motel where he waited in her room for her to come back. When she did, he shoved her into the wall and began choking her. Problem was she was older than him - vampire-wise, anyway - and she began choking him back. Technically he didn't need to breathe but his lungs felt flat and empty without air and it was uncomfortable, and her fingers were so tight against his flesh that it felt like she was trying to rip into his throat.

"Okay, I give, okay." He let go and then she let go. "Damn. You're strong for a little thing."

"I was wondering how long it would take you to find me."

"How long have you been here?"

"I arrived around half past comet."

"How'd you know about the spell?"

"I didn't say much back then, which means I heard _everything_," Anna said, smirking.

"If you've been here the whole time then why are we just crossing paths right now?" he asked, moving closer so as to appear intimidating.

"I like to use others to do my dirty work." Anna was not to be intimidated; she just moved around him nonchalantly.

Others. Logan Fell. That Ben guy. The guy at the dance.

"Like Logan Fell? Oh, yeah. Thanks for that, by the way. Little bastard shot me."

"Logan was an idiot. We slipped him some blood when he started getting all poser-Slayer with that compass. I needed his family's journal. I couldn't let him die."

"What'd you want with the Fells journal?"

"I thought it contained the witch's spell book. I was wrong. According to her journal, Honoria gave the grimoire to Jonathan Gilbert. And according to this . . ." Anna showed him the journal. "He gave it to your father. So now you're gonna help me find it."

Damon tilted his head to the side. "I am? Why would I help you?"

"Because I'm gonna give you the same warning I gave Rebecca. If you get in my way - and you not helping me would be considered getting in my way - someone you love dies bloody."

"If you're talking about Rebecca . . . you're gonna find she's not so easily beaten."

He'd seen the damage Rebecca could do when she set her mind to it. She could hold her own against Anna, he was pretty sure.

"Fine then. How about this? If you don't help, then _you_ are the reason her aunt will die."

"You're bluffing."

Anna used to be so . . . sweet. What had happened to her? Life, his subconscious answered. It had changed him too.

"Am I? Are you certain enough to risk Tina's life? And her unborn child's?"

Damon detested being used and he detested being manipulated even more - and he would get even - but he'd play, for now.

"Give me the damn journal."

She handed it to him, page already turned to where she wanted him to read. He didn't know it, but he was reading the same passage Stefan, Elena, and Rebecca had read. He knew where the grimoire was now, and he was going to go get it himself.

* * *

Meanwhile, back with the other three, Stefan, Rebecca, and Elena were digging up Giuseppe's grave in the cemetery near old Fells Church, or what was left of it, anyway.

"So, why isn't your father buried in your family's tomb?"

"It wasn't built until well after he died."

"And you're sure the grimoire's in there with him?"

"Sure as I can be."

"Great."

A moment passed between Elena and Stefan that Rebecca didn't understand, so she just kept digging.

"You guys . . . I can do this on my own," Stefan said.

"I said I'd do anything I can to help," Elena reminded him.

The three continued making small talk as they dug in the earth. Rebecca noticed Stefan was even quieter than normal and she felt sorry for him having to dig up his father's grave. Whether the man had been good or not . . . Stefan shouldn't have had to be doing this.

"Not many girls can say they've done this," Elena said in a good-natured sort of way.

That was when they reached the coffin. Stefan leaned down and opened the head of it while Elena and Rebecca hopped out of the hole. There was a book-shaped box inside and Stefan pulled it out.

"Is that it?" Elena asked.

"Let's see." Stefan opened the box, which had been bound together, and inside was the grimoire. They could tell because the book wasn't written in English.

What Rebecca hadn't expected was that Stefan drew a small can of lighter fluid from his jacket pocket and began sprinkling it on the book.

"What're you doing?" She looked at Elena, who was lighting a match. "What're _you_ doing?"

"I'm sorry," Elena said softly. "You weren't supposed to come with us, but we couldn't just tell you not to. We _have_ to destroy the spell book. It's dangerous."

"If the tomb gets opened, a lot of people are going to die," Stefan explained. He gestured for Elena to drop the match and she did. The book went up in flames and Rebecca moved forward quickly to try and put out the fire.

"Elena! She'll kill someone I love!"

Hurt and betrayal flowed through Rebecca. She didn't care much for Stefan, but she'd expected better from Elena. Stefan she knew could do something like this, she'd seen it happen, but Elena . . . she'd never done anything so back-stabby in her life.

"Becca, you're my friend and I love you, but this is for the best."

"Best for whom? You" It's not _your_ family that's in danger this time so you don't care?" She began covering the book with dirt so she could put out the flames.

"Stop it," Stefan said, grabbing her.

Within two seconds she had hit him square in the jaw, and then he'd shoved her against a tree - not hard enough to hurt, but it did jar her a little. He ripped her necklace off and, since she was a little out of it . . .

"You're going to calm down _now_," he said, compelling her to listen. "I'm going to restart that fire and you're going to let me because it's the best thing for this town."

He stepped away from her and she let him go toward the grimoire and she didn't stop him. She knew in her brain that she wanted to . . . but she couldn't move. She knew she shouldn't be letting them destroy the grimoire because it was what was keeping Anna from killing someone Rebecca cared about, but she couldn't do anything to stop them.

But Damon could. He'd seen everything: The lighter fluid, the match, Rebecca being compelled, everything. Damon tackled Stefan to the ground and told him if he tried to destroy the grimoire he'd rip Elena's heart out. He really had expected better from Elena.

"You won't kill her," Stefan said, sounding so sure of himself. "Rebecca would never forgive you if you killed one of her friends. She was going to allow Anna to open the tomb to protect her friends."

Damon raced over to Elena and grabbed her, much like Stefan had done with Rebecca. "I can do one better." He bit his lip and forced his blood down Elena's throat. "Give me the book, Stefan, or I'm snapping her neck and you will have a vampire girlfriend."

He watched the emotions play over Stefan's face but he couldn't bring himself to care. Damon had known Stefan's renewed sense of brotherhood hadn't been real. He'd known Stefan couldn't be trusted but he'd played along for Rebecca's sake. Now he knew it had been for nothing.

He felt Elena struggling against him and had to steel himself against the tears he felt hit his arm. Forcing blood on someone wasn't something Damon was fond of but it was a good weapon if the situation called for it. He knew Stefan didn't want Elena to become a vampire and it was too soon for Elena to have made a decision like that. He knew he would get what he wanted this way.

"Let her go first," Stefan said. "I'm not giving it to you until she is standing next to me."

"The problem is that I no longer trust that you'll give it back."

"You just did the one thing that ensures that I will," Stefan said.

So they made the exchange, and Damon got the book and Stefan got Elena. Stefan got the two of them out of there. Then Damon undid what Stefan had done to Rebecca. It wasn't hard, seeing as to how Stefan was the weaker vampire. The only problem was she didn't remember what happened after Stefan had compelled her.

He pretty much told the truth because he knew she wouldn't judge him for it. She'd accept it and move on. Besides, Elena would be fine. Stefan would make sure nothing happened to her, and the blood would pass out of her system.

Rebecca touched her neck and realized the cross wasn't there. "My necklace."

"Stefan took it with him. I'll get it back for you."

Now that Damon had taken the compulsion off, she was angry again. She couldn't believe Elena had done this, had been willing to sacrifice one of Rebecca's friends - maybe Elena herself, since she was or had been one.

"How'd you know we were here?" Rebecca asked.

"The journal. I found Anna, and she showed it to me. She wanted my help. How'd you know where it was - the grimoire?"

"Stefan. The teacher made a copy of the journal and Stefan got it.

"Ah."

"Will you take me home? Do what you want with the grimoire, I don't care."

"What were _you_ gonna do with it?" Damon asked curiously.

Rebecca took the book when Damon offered it to her. "I was going to offer to help Anna if she let me be there when she opens the tomb so I can make sure the others stay put. Maybe even destroy them."

"And you were going to let her have her mother," Damon said, because Rebecca didn't try to deceive people or manipulate them.

"Yes. Only her mother."

"Well, she's waiting for you at your house."

Rebecca tensed beside him but continued walking anyway.

"How did she knew you'd help her?"

Damon considered what to say, and decided on his brother's earlier words. "She did the one thing that ensured I would."

Rebecca nodded knowingly. He meant Anna had threatened her. She was his weakness now, and sometimes she felt sorry for that. If someone who was stronger than Damon wanted something from him all they had to do was mention her name and she knew he'd probably do anything.

When they got to her house Rebecca was still fuming. This wasn't something she would get over soon. She was, however, relieved to find that Anna hadn't been invited into the house. The vampire hadn't even tried to get in; she just wanted the grimoire.

Rebecca showed her that they did, in fact, have the wanted book, but she didn't hand it over right then. "I have a few ground rules if you're going to do this.

"You're negotiating?" Anna laughed. "That's adorable."

"It's not a negotiation. It's a you're-gonna-do-what-I-tell-you-to-do thing. See, because I have this book and you want it. See where I'm going with this?"

Anna glared but nodded anyway. "I'm listening."

"Good. I've just had a massively bad night, so your cooperation is appreciated. Rule one: You open the tomb; the _only_ person you get out is your mother."

"I told you, I don't care about the others," Anna said defensively.

"One of my friends stabbed me in the back tonight so forgive me for not trusting you." Rebecca moved on. "Rule two: I'm there when you open the tomb to make sure you follow rule one."

"No tricks?" Anna asked, also suspicious.

"No tricks. You get in; you get your mother out. Rule three: I keep the grimoire until all this goes down so you can't do it without me." When Anna didn't respond Rebecca continued. "Rule four: If something happens and the others do get out somehow, you have to help get rid of them if they cause problems because this is something you want so they're your responsibility. And rule five: You're not going to hurt me or my family or my friends. If you do, Damon will destroy that grimoire and you'll never get that tomb open."

"Your terms are . . . acceptable. But if you betray me in any way . . ."

"I won't. No tricks, I promise."

"Can I see the grimoire?" Anna asked. "As a show of faith, I just want to make sure the spell is in there. I'll give it right back."

"It's not written in English."

"I knew Emily very well. I can read it -"

Rebecca let Damon hold the grimoire, just in case, and Anna flipped the pages. She obviously found what she wanted because she agreed to everything Rebecca had said, and left without trying to take the book.

Rebecca took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You know, I actually thought Stefan and I could be friends - even after everything, after everything he did to me and you. I was stupid. And I hate it but that's just who I am. Do you know how hard it is for me to be mean to anybody?"

"As hard as it is for me to be nice?"

"My whole life, it's been . . . it's been "Rebecca, do this, Rebecca, do that." And I've always listened; I've always let other people set the rules. I've always just gone with the flow, no matter where the flow led. And I'm done. As of tonight I'm done. I'm not gonna let people run my life anymore."

Damon didn't say it, but he thought she'd already made a good start with what she'd done with Anna. It put Rebecca in charge and it didn't compromise her moral standards.

She could leave the being mean to him.

* * *

Okay, so how did I do? I was a little confused with this one because I've never put a Stefan's POV in a chapter before, but it wouldn't make sense later without a little backstory about Alaric. And then I knew I wanted Stefan and Elena to try and destroy the grimoire because they're whole idea in the actual series was keeping the town safe. They were trying to do that here too, and I think Damon would've still reacted the same way because it was for Rebecca. He wouldn't like that Stefan had compelled his girlfriend and he wouldn't like that they had betrayed her in whatever way. In mine, though, he obviously felt a little bad for it (hence the steeling himself against Elena's tears).

So, what do you think?


	39. Chapter 34

This is basically starting where the last chapter leaves off. Stefan and Elena betrayed Rebecca and Damon, but if you read the last chapter, you're good to go. LOL

Chapter Thirty-Four

The next morning Damon received a whole slew of voice-mails from Stefan, and the gist of each was "Elena's missing. I think Anna has her. Call me back when you get this."

Damon _didn't_ call back, and he took his sweet time going back to the boardinghouse too. He didn't let Rebecca know about Elena because he knew if Anna was going to hurt Elena it was for a reason, and she would tell Stefan, contact him some way, and try and set up something where Elena didn't get hurt.

"Anna took Elena," Stefan said when Damon reached him.

"Yeah. I got that from your 600 voice-mails."

"Damon, all night long, every single street in town, I've been searching. What if your blood hasn't passed out of her system?"

"Well, at least you know you'll see her again," Damon said.

"Damon . . . you're angry, I get it, but this is Elena. What do you know?"

"I know that she helped you hurt Rebecca." Damon smirked because he knew that Stefan couldn't counter that without flat out lying. "You know she was trying to be friends with you? She wanted to be even after what you did to her, and you yourself said you wanted to be friends with her. Which is pretty ballsy, you know? You and Elena, you're her _friends_ and you betray her like that. Funny how _I'm_ the trustworthy one."

"Damon, you were with Anna," Stefan said, deciding to ignore the truth of Damon's words. "You must know where she's living. Just tell me."

Damon pretended to consider it, and then . . . "Nope. You can go. Really."

Stefan didn't go. He decided he wanted to talk some more. "You know, all I can remember is hating you."

"Mutual, little brother."

"There might've been a time when that was different, but your choices have erased anything good about you. But see, I know that you have just as much reason to hate me. This all began with me. But please, tell me what you know."

Stefan wanted his help and he was bringing that up? Really? Not the best strategy.

"I mean this sincerely. I hope Elena . . . dies." Damon tried to appear nonchalant. "Now, Rebecca's necklace. Where is it?"

Stefan looked crestfallen, but he answered anyway. "It's in your room with her things. In her drawer."

* * *

Meanwhile, Rebecca was with Jeremy, Matt, Tyler and Caroline at the Grill. Tyler was shooting pool, Matt was working - sort of - and Caroline was being Caroline. Jeremy was doing homework, and Rebecca was just along for the ride. They were all talking about some party a guy was throwing that night.

"Ten kegs? Do you know how much damage we could do with ten kegs?" Tyler seemed excited enough. "Duke's got it all hooked up."

"Duke's a douche," Matt said.

"Yeah, a douche with ten kegs. AKA, my new best friend."

Jeremy shook his head and scoffed. The only thing missing was the eye roll.

"What's your problem, Gilbert?"

"Don't have one, Lockwood."

"Yeah, I didn't think so."

Matt looked between Jeremy and Tyler and then settled his gaze on the latter. "You ever get bored of it?"

"Of what?" Tyler asked.

"Yourself."

Matt got back to work, and Rebecca and Jeremy got a few chuckles in.

"Keep laughing, guys," Tyler muttered.

"Come on, you're being a dick," Rebecca said.

"I'm what?"

"Being . . . a . . . dick," Rebecca said, sounding as though she were speaking to a child.

"You know, you really shouldn't talk to me like that," Tyler said, coming to stand beside her. "It's rude."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said sarcastically.

Tyler grabbed her hand when she reached for her drink. "You really shouldn't talk to me like that."

His grip was tight and Rebecca was surprised by how strong he was, but Tyler _did_ play three sports - football, baseball, and basketball.

"Tyler, let her go," Jeremy said, closing his textbook and standing up.

"Yeah? What're you gonna do?"

Rebecca grabbed Tyler's wrist and squeezed the pressure point hard enough to make him let go. He seemed surprised and had a "what the hell" expression on his face.

"Wrong day, wrong girl," Rebecca said seriously. She was not in the mood to put up with the Aggressive Male Syndrome today. In fact, she wasn't in the mood to put up with _anything_ at the moment.

She realized Jeremy and Caroline were staring at her now, and she looked down at the table. "What?"

Tyler walked away, holding his wrist, muttering.

"You know, who are you lately?" Jeremy asked. "How do you even know how to do that?"

"Um . . . I've been taking self defense from a friend. I caught on quickly."

Rebecca was glad when Caroline changed the subject. "So where's Elena? I've been texting her and Bonnie all day about Duke's party."

"Uh, she went somewhere with Stefan," Jeremy said.

Caroline sighed. "I'm so not gonna be one of those girls who disappears just because she has a new boyfriend."

"Who _is_ Duke?" Jeremy asked.

"Some guy that graduated a couple years ago. And he throws a party every time he comes home from Duke."

"Wait, Duke goes to Duke?"

"His real name is Bob or something. He's a total ass, but he buys the beer. You know, you should come."

"Uh, yeah, I -" Jeremy seemed uncomfortable. "I don't think so."

"No, seriously. Everyone goes. Even quiet loner little brothers. Think about it?"

Jeremy grinned and Caroline walked away. Jeremy went back to his homework and Rebecca smiled at the thought of Caroline trying to get Jeremy to go to the party.

It was being held at the old cemetery near the church. Why anyone would have a party in a cemetery was beyond Rebecca. Not to mention . . . it was December and freezing; it was even calling for snow that night.

"Hey, look, I gotta go, but I'll see you later," Rebecca said. "I might be at the party later if I can't find anything better to do."

"Okay."

* * *

Outside the Grill Rebecca trundled into a very panicked Stefan.

"Rebecca, can I talk to you?"

"Yes, but I won't promise to listen." She walked by him, getting ready to get into her car.

"Elena's missing," he blurted out.

Rebecca stopped in her tracks. Elena was what, now?

"Jeremy said she was with you . . ." she said suspiciously. She wasn't very trusting of him right now. What if this was a trick?

"I told him and Jenna that so they wouldn't panic. I think Anna has her."

"What would Anna want with Elena?" Anna had seemed a little preoccupied with Jeremy, but now . . .

"I don't know."

Rebecca noticed how concerned Stefan was and, even though she was mad at him for being willing to risk someone's life - who, she didn't know - she still felt bad for him. She couldn't help it, that was just her - she saw someone suffering and she wanted to help make it stop.

"Anna won't hurt her. She won't risk it."

"Risk what?"

"I have the grimoire, Stefan, and she knows it."

"You mean you didn't give it to her?"

"No!" she exclaimed. What, did he think she was stupid? "Get in the car and I'll explain."

So she explained the rules she'd set with Anna, and said as long as _she_ had the grimoire Anna wouldn't risk hurting Elena because Rebecca might actually destroy the book. That had been the rules.

"So . . . you were never planning on giving it to her?"

"No, Stefan, I wasn't. I'm not stupid. I wouldn't just hand over a powerful book to someone I don't know. And if you had come to me instead of going behind my back, you would've known that."

"If I just knew where Elena was, we could fix this."

"I thought you said she was with Anna."

"I don't know where Anna is. But Damon does. He won't help me, but I figured if _you_ asked . . ."

"Ah . . . right. Well, I'll help, but we're still not okay. I - I'm still angry at both of you but I don't want either of you hurt."

So they headed to the boardinghouse and, on the way, Stefan asked a very personal question.

"Why Damon? I mean, you know how he is, what he does, so . . ."

Rebecca did know how he was and the things he did. Killing Lexi and forcing Elena to drink is blood were just two of the mistakes on a long list of -

"Oh, God. Elena has his blood in her system.

"I know, I know. I mentioned that to Damon; he didn't seem to care."

"He's mad that you hurt me, and I don't agree with him forcing Elena to drink his blood, but that was the only thing he knew to do that would get you to cooperate."

"And it worked."

"Yeah, it did." Rebecca sighed and slowed down the car just before they reached the turnoff for the boardinghouse. "I'm sorry that Damon forced Elena to drink his blood. I wish it hadn't happened. No one should be forced into something like that. I'll talk to him about it after we figure this stuff out, okay?"

Stefan nodded appreciatively. "He'd listen to you better than he would me."

"Yeah. Look, I _want_ to get along with you, Stefan. You know that, right? But I can't if you keep doing things like this. Next time just let me know how you feel. I'm the reasonable person in Damon's and my relationship. I won't hurt you for not agreeing with me, so no more deceit, okay?"

Stefan nodded again. "Well, then, I should tell you that the reason Mr. Saltzman is here is because he knows about vampires. He attacked me at the school. It sort of surprised him when I didn't attack back."

"How does he know?"

"His wife was a paranormal investigator. She researched this town. Led him here."

"Okay. Didn't see that coming, but I _knew_ there was something odd about him. He asked way too many questions."

If Mr. Saltzman knew about Stefan, that meant he knew about Damon. That was why he'd been talking to him at the dance. He was lucky Damon hadn't suspected anything or the teacher would've been dead. And . . . when Damon had gone to compel him to tell the truth . . . he must've had vervain on him or in him because he'd obviously lied - he wasn't just a history teacher.

She then remembered Stefan's original question.

"Oh, and, uh, the answer is because he helps me loosen up and have fun. Every other part of my life is all gloom and doom, but when I'm with Damon none of it matters. Everything else just fades away. And there's only me and him, and I just _know_ that as long as I have him I'll be okay. That why it's Damon."

* * *

At the boardinghouse Damon didn't relent. He still didn't want to tell Stefan where Anna was staying. Even if Rebecca was the one who asked him to spill. It would be considered helping Stefan, and Damon wasn't in a help-Stefan mood. He was in a make-Stefan-miserable mood.

"Damon . . ." Rebecca said, big green eyes shining up at him, and he forced himself to ignore the fact that she was trying to get him to tell her. "Please? If the situation were reversed, Stefan would help you find me. And no, I don't think Anna will hurt Elena, but what if she does?"

That was when Stefan's phone rang, and he said it was Elena's phone.

"Elena, are you okay?"

"She's fine, for now," Anna's voice came over the line. Damon motioned for Rebecca to be quiet so he could hear both sides of the conversation. "Your brother and his Slayer girlfriend have the grimoire. I have Elena and the witch. One of you better meet me in the very public town square in 30 minutes so we can safely discuss how fun it's gonna be to work together."

Damon knew from this one phone call that the reason Elena - and Bonnie - had been taken was because Anna didn't trust Rebecca or Stefan or _him_, for that matter. Taking Elena was a way to get Stefan to cooperate. Taking Bonnie was insurance that Anna actually had a witch. It would probably be a trade off. Rebecca let Anna use the spell book and she would give Elena and Bonnie back, no harm done.

Anna hung up; Stefan hung up. He looked at Damon pleadingly.

"Go ahead. Grovel again," he said. "Oh, wait, no. I don't care."

"So you're really not gonna help?" Rebecca asked, and Damon didn't answer.

_Fuck_, Damon thought. He was actually going to make her cry over this. If only making Stefan miserable didn't mean making Rebecca miserable. Hurting Rebecca on purpose was something Damon had promised himself that he would _never_ do. But Damon didn't understand why Rebecca wanted to help Elena anyway, not after what she and Stefan had done the night before. Shouldn't their friendship be null and void now?

"Fine," Rebecca said, turning to Stefan. Turning _away_ from Damon, and Damon felt in his heart that her turning away signified something bigger and he didn't like it. "We can do it another way. A location spell; Sheila can do it. Bonnie's Grams, she's also a witch."

Damon had seen the disappointment in Rebecca's eyes at the fact that he wasn't going to help them get Elena and Bonnie back. He knew Anna wouldn't hurt them, not with Rebecca holding the very important card that was the grimoire. But . . . God, but he was a sucker when it came to love and the _woman_ he loved. He sometimes hated himself for it.

"It's a hotel," he said, cursing himself for giving in. Stefan never should've brought Rebecca here when Damon clearly didn't want to help Stefan. That was using Rebecca against him, against his will power, and it wasn't fair. Granted, he knew he'd done the same thing with Elena last night to get the book from Stefan but still . . . _Stefan_ wasn't supposed to do things like that. "It's just outside of town. No invite needed."

And just like that, Rebecca's disappointment faded away and gratitude took its place.

"Okay, well . . . I still need to go to Sheila's and try to convince her to help - Bonnie can't do it alone. One of you needs to go find the girls, and the other needs to meet Anna. Tell her we'll still help but we just wanted to make sure our friends were safe."

Damon looked heavenward and shook his head. He was being bossed around by a seventeen-year-old girl. How the hell had _that_ happened?

* * *

Damon was the one who met Anna in the town square. He was the stronger of him and Stefan so he'd . . . volunteered. He sneered at the thought. When had he become such a pushover? It was almost . . . human.

He watched as Anna walked along the sidewalk and stopped to talk to Jeremy Gilbert. Jeremy asked her to a party that night and she accepted. If Damon didn't know any better, he'd say Anna was actually interested in the kid. After she accepted, Jeremy walked away and Anna went to sit on a red bench, and Damon quickly went to sit beside her. He was the perfect picture of nonchalance.

"Got a hot date or are you just planning on nabbing the entire Gilbert family?" he asked.

"Party. Right next to the old cemetery. Isn't that nice of them? Lots of warm bodies for starving vampires."

Anna seemed perfectly sure of herself and he didn't like that.

"Stefan will come after you, you know that. For messing with Elena."

"Let him come," Anna said. "With his diet, he'd be lucky if he lasted ten minutes."

And now came the hard part; the next part depended on Anna and how she reacted. He told her about Stefan going to get Bonnie and Elena but that Rebecca still planned on helping her. She just wanted her friends back.

"God, she's a meddlesome girl," Anna seethed.

Damon smirked as he remembered Stefan had said the same thing a long time ago.

"Last person who told her that got a wooden stake to the stomach."

Anna's lips turned down into a frown. "Joking aside, you should really keep an eye on your girlfriend if you wanna keep her. She's good at what she does, which means she's going to piss a lot of people off. Someone's already sending loose cannons her way."

"What do you know about that?"

"Only that it's not me. Rebecca told me the rest."

Damon's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Why the warning? It's not like you care what happens to her."

"I'm older than you. I've met a few Slayers. Not all of them were like her. They didn't care about vampires; they just wanted them dead. At least Rebecca can be objective. She doesn't see us as monsters just because we can _be_ monsters. Things could be worse."

"Hm."

Damon had never actively searched out any Slayers. He hadn't cared about them at all; he'd only wanted to get back to Rebecca. He'd even gone to see a few witches to ask them to send him into the future to be with her but it had been impossible. Obviously, or he wouldn't have had to wait, and he hated waiting.

"So, when do you wanna do this?" he asked her.

"Tonight. After sundown. Meet at the church."

Anna got up and began to walk away, but she turned back around. "She's your girlfriend . . . Can I trust her?"

Damon then saw Anna for what she really was. A teenage girl who missed her mother and just wanted her back. He was almost sorry.

"Yes, you can trust her. If she says she's gonna do something, she does it."

"And why are you her little errand boy?"

Damon used his icy stare on Anna. "I am not an errand boy. Rebecca had to talk to Sheila Bennett about helping us because Bonnie isn't strong enough to do it on her own. She hasn't had her powers for long, and she's been practicing for an even shorter amount of time." He smirked. "A little flaw in your plan there, getting an inexperienced witch."

Anna huffed at the sort of insult and walked away, leaving Damon to grin wickedly as he watched.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Bennett House, Rebecca was explaining to Grams how she'd gotten the grimoire and, since it had been Emily's, that after everything was done either Grams or Bonnie should keep it. It was rightfully theirs.

"I'm really sorry," Rebecca said.

"Not as sorry as they're gonna be."

Grams had been worried and angry when Rebecca had told her that Anna had Bonnie and Elena, but she reassured Grams that it was already taken care of.

Not long after that, Stefan showed up with Bonnie and Elena. Grams reluctantly let Stefan in even though she knew what he was. Rebecca avoided looking at or talking to Elena even though she was glad Elena was okay and back.

"So, what do we do now?" Elena asked.

"Well, for now, you need to stay here," Stefan said. "Your house isn't safe for you; Anna's been invited in."

"A prisoner in my own home?" Grams asked. "I don't think so."

"I can't protect you if you leave the house."

"We'll protect ourselves."

"Okay, butting in here," Rebecca interrupted. "How did Anna get to you, Bonnie?"

Rebecca knew Elena had been taken from her home, so that meant Anna had been invited into the Gilbert residence - probably by Jeremy - but Bonnie . . .

"Ben McKittrick. I went on a date with him," Bonnie said.

"The bartender at the Grill," Rebecca said, grimacing. "Vampire, working with Anna. Wow."

"You knew he was a vampire?" Elena asked.

"Yeah. And I'm sorry, Bonnie. If I had known you were interested in him, I would've told you."

"No, it's okay. You didn't know."

Rebecca sighed and stood up. "I think that's the problem. None of us know anything anymore. We all have our own stuff to deal with. We've all kept secrets for our own reasons. And we just shouldn't anymore. Not with each other."

There was a knock at the door and Rebecca knew it was Damon. She looked at Grams, who seemed hesitant about letting another vampire in the house - especially Damon. Rebecca understood that. Damon could be unpredictable. Grams let him in anyway, and here they were - one big happy family; or not so happy.

"Witches being pulled down by vampire problems," Grams muttered. "As much as we try to do to stay out of it. I'll open the tomb. Anna gets her mother and we destroy the rest with fire. Then this will be all over."

"I . . . agree with that statement," Rebecca said. This had been what she'd wanted anyway. Anna walking away with Pearl; the others destroyed or, at the very least, left in the tomb. No, she wasn't all woo-hoo for killing vampires that weren't hurting anyone, but she couldn't risk them getting out and running around town and sucking people dry either.

"_But_ . . . I want to get something out of the way right now." Since Rebecca had explained what had happened she didn't mind saying it in front of everyone. "Elena, Stefan . . . I understand what you were trying to do. I get it, I do. If . . . I look at it objectively, letting one person die so that everyone else can live . . . would be the right thing to do. It would be best for everyone else. And I don't want things to be awkward between us today, so I forgive you. We have work to do and we can't - I can't - let this get in the way."

The words _I forgive you_ sparked a memory in Damon. Rebecca had once told him when he was human that sometimes one had to forgive people who had wronged them not so much because they deserved it, but because they needed it. That was what she was doing now; they had to work together, so it was best if things weren't tense and awkward.

Damon realized then that this was probably why he and Rebecca got along so well. Rebecca was able to forgive him for his trespasses. He meant more to her than all the vampire things he thought he had to do.

"As I said earlier . . . we don't know each other anymore. It's not our fault; it just happened," Rebecca said. "I have the Slayer stuff, training and all that. I have Damon . . ."

Rebecca blushed a little.

"I know I've been MIA because of my relationship. And Bonnie, you're a witch. And Elena . . . your life is so mixed up I don't know how you're dealing with everything. We've been away from each other a lot because of all these things, and we shouldn't be. We should stay together. Stick together. If we don't, then we will fail, and in this town failing might mean dying."

"Speaking of dying -" Damon interrupted what was sure to be a great and inspiring speech. "Anna wants to open the tomb tonight. We meet her at the church at sundown."

"But there's a party there tonight," Rebecca said.

"Mm-hm. That's why I said speaking of dying. Pearl hasn't had any blood in almost a century-and-a-half. Who do you think she's gonna wanna munch on?"

"The teenagers, God." Rebecca shook her head. "Matt, Caroline, Tyler, and Jeremy are gonna be there. Plus a bunch of other people."

A lot of people were gonna die, and she was going to be the reason. It would be her fault because she'd agreed to help Anna open the tomb.

"If we're gonna do this, we're gonna need some things," Stefan said. "Flame thrower, gasoline."

"Can you get it by tonight?" Elena asked.

"Guess we'll have to."

"We'll have to clear out the debris from when the ground fell in, too," Bonnie said. "We can't get down any other way."

"There should be a staircase down there somewhere," Damon said. "Probably caved in over the years."

So they split into two groups. Damon, Rebecca, and Elena were going to the tomb; Stefan, Grams, and Bonnie were going to get things they needed, including spell stuff that Rebecca didn't know about.

At the tomb Damon went down into the hole that had been created by the ground giving way, and Rebecca and Elena began looking for a trapdoor that could've been hiding a staircase. It couldn't be that far from the collapsed bit of ground, so they didn't wander away needlessly.

"Do you think Anna will really just stop with her mother?" Elena asked.

"Yes, I do. I think that's the only one she wants."

* * *

By the time the sun went down Stefan, Bonnie and Grams had come back, and Damon had cleaned the debris from the hole in the ground. Damon had found the staircase and had had to make the way clear for that, too. Rebecca had set up torches for the two witches - Grams had said something about channeling energy through the elements. They could draw power from the fire. Rebecca was interested in the magic because, aside from the spell she'd done herself, she hadn't seen a lot of magic firsthand. Except for Bonnie having visions and being possessed by Emily, Rebecca wasn't sure Bonnie had ever done a big spell like this. She didn't know if Bonnie could handle it.

"Grams . . . this spell, it won't hurt you guys, right? I mean, you said it takes energy, so I'm guessing that means _your _energy."

"We'll be fine, baby," Grams said, her wise eyes showing a maternal affection. "But, yes, our energy is what fuels the magic."

Rebecca couldn't tell if Grams was lying or not, but she decided to trust her. Grams knew what she could and couldn't do.

"Okay, well, I'm going to go check on the partiers. Someone should really make sure they stay away from the church."

"I can put up a barrier once everyone gets here before we do the spell," Grams said. "It's not that hard."

"Okay."

Stefan began setting up the gasoline cans and the flame thrower. It was everything he needed to destroy the tombed vampires.

"I just wanna get this over with," Elena said. "Are we ready?"

"I guess so," Bonnie said.

"Wait until I get back, please," Rebecca said.

"You shouldn't leave," Stefan said. "It might draw a few stragglers back. Best to just stay here."

Rebecca suppressed her natural urge to rebel because it was Stefan telling her that and stayed put. They all went down into the hole via the staircase. They lit the torches and got ready to do the spell. Anna would probably be there soon.

"Air. Earth. Fire," Sheila said, calling on the four elements - well, three, but soon to be four.

"Water," Bonnie completed. She was holding a jug of water.

"That's it?" Elena asked. "Just water from the tap?"

"As opposed to what?"

"I just figured it would have to be blessed or mystical or something."

Grans smiled softly and took the bottle from Bonnie. She sprinkled some water on the ground where she and Bonnie would be working.

"We're ready," Bonnie said, opening the grimoire to the page needed. Now all they needed was for Anna to come, hopefully without surprises.

Bonnie and Grams held hands and began chanting in a different language.

"What're they saying?" Damon asked.

"Open sesame?" Rebecca suggested playfully, and Damon rolled his eyes. "How am I supposed to know?"

"It sounds Latin," Stefan said.

"I don't think it's Latin," Elena contradicted.

"How would you know?" Rebecca asked curiously. "You take French, not ancient dead languages." Rebecca remembered Grams saying something about other spell books she owned having been translated from the original into English, so maybe it _was_ Latin.

Suddenly the flames from the torches shot up higher, and Rebecca felt the heat from it and backed away a little. Well, Damon pulled her back a little. It was heartwarming to know that Damon was _always_ looking out for her. He was always on the alert for things that were dangerous to her.

"Careful," Damon hissed at the witches. "Some of us don't heal automatically."

And being set on fire was not one of Rebecca's fantasies.

"What's happening," Elena asked.

There was a loud crash and then the door to the tomb opened. There was a hideous odor, and Rebecca had to fight the urge to gag.

"Ugh!" The funk of 145 years hit all of them in the face and Rebecca noticed that Stefan and Damon were holding their breath - their chests were no longer moving. They didn't need to breathe.

"It worked," Bonnie seemed shocked.

"Of course it worked."

"Don't you have some fires to build?" Damon asked Stefan.

"I'm gonna go get the gasoline. I'll be right back."

Once Stefan went back to the top it took about a minute for Anna to show up. She looked around at everyone.

"Didn't expect such a crowd."

"What, did you think they would let me come alone?" Rebecca asked.

"You said only you would be here. So only you're coming in with me. Well, you and Elena." Anna looked at Damon. "Motivation for you and your brother to behave."

"She's not going in there alone," Damon said.

"I don't think I have a choice," Rebecca muttered. "She needs to know she won't be ambushed."

"I won't hurt her," Anna promised. "I get my mother out, we come back out, and you have her back. It's as simple as that."

Rebecca grabbed her necklace, the one with the Salvatore crest on it, and reassured herself of the fact that she was protected from compulsion at least.

Rebecca looked at Elena. "You up for it?"

Elena sighed. "Like you said, we don't have a choice."

Damon looked angry but he was going along with it anyway. He didn't have a choice either.

"Fine, Here." He threw a few bags of blood to Rebecca and she looked up at him, surprised. Leave it to Damon to remember the part of the plan she hadn't come up with. "Should be enough to at least get her away from the party."

"Good thinking," she complimented and he smirked.

Damon watched as both Rebecca and Elena went inside the tomb with Anna. He was not happy. This was where things could go terribly wrong.

Stefan came back without the gasoline, which Damon was going to mention, but Stefan asked where Elena was.

"Anna took her and Rebecca inside," Bonnie answered.

"What?"

Stefan moved toward the entrance but Sheila grabbed his arm. "Stefan, if you go in there, you won't come out."

Damon straightened up and glared at the witch. Not come out? That didn't bode well for . . . any of them. "What did you do?"

"Opening the door didn't remove the seal; it just opened the door."

"What's the seal?" Stefan asked.

"Some seals keep vampires from entering. This one keeps them from coming out."

Elena and Rebecca were human - they could get out. Anna couldn't, Pearl couldn't. None of the vampires could.

"You were never planning on breaking the spell, were you?" Stefan asked.

"I told you," Sheila said, standing firm. "I will protect my own. The girls can get out. That's all that matters."

* * *

Meanwhile, inside the tomb, Elena and Rebecca were trailing behind Anna. They all three had flashlights but Anna had the advantage seeing as to how she was a vampire - vampires had a sort of night vision thing since they were nocturnal by nature. Rebecca found herself silently thanking Diana for training her to fight and be alert in total darkness. If the flashlights died - Rebecca would still be able to defend herself.

"You know, you must have a taste for it," Anna told Elena. "You scream and shriek and even bother to escape, but then you just come right back to it."

Rebecca had been counting the vampires and, when they reached the end of the tomb, she was one short. There were supposed to be twenty-seven but there were only twenty-six.

"She's not here," Anna said, looking at Rebecca. "She never was."

So . . . Katherine had gotten away. Rebecca wasn't surprised, really; she'd had the entire town under her spell.

They finally found Pearl and Anna really did seem concerned; she really did love her mother.

"Your boyfriend did this, you know," Anna told Elena.

"His father did."

"And Jonathan Gilbert. Made a choice a long time ago that it would be Gilbert blood that brought her back to life. I had Jeremy all ready to go, but . . ."

"Hold that thought train, sister," Rebecca said. "It ain't happening. She drinks from the blood bags, or she doesn't get any blood at all. Elena, go."

Anna actually hit Rebecca in the face but it was more from annoyance than any real desire to hurt her so Rebecca didn't fight back.

"You're really bothersome, you know that? It's no wonder someone's trying to kill you."

"Story of my life. Now, hurry up. This place gives me the creeps."

A hand grabbed Rebecca's ankle and teeth latched onto her calf, tearing into the muscle, and Rebecca screamed.

* * *

Outside the tomb both Stefan and Damon heard the high-pitched scream. The brothers looked at each other and both took off into the tomb at the same time. The layout of the tomb was easy to remember - there weren't any secret passageways or anything like that.

They ran into Elena on the way, and Damon asked where Rebecca was.

"She's with Anna. She told me to leave."

Damon looked at Stefan and said, "Get her out of here."

Then he took off again, all the while cursing himself for not coming with the two girls in the first place. When he reached the place Anna and Rebecca were he saw the problem. Rebecca was bleeding, and all the vampires had sensed it; they were waking up. Rebecca had been bitten on the leg and was wobbling around. The vampires could sense the blood, the human blood, here and it was making them come back to life.

"Damon." She caught his gaze and let out a sigh of relief.

"I, uh, heard you scream. Can you get out of here on your own?"

"I can walk, yeah."

Rebecca looked at Anna, who was giving Pearl some blood.

"Go on," he said. "I'll stay."

Rebecca heard _something_ in his voice that made her freeze. "What's wrong?"

"Nothin', get out of here."

"Is somebody hurt?"

"No, everyone's fine. I'll be there in a minute."

With obvious reluctance, she went. Once outside the tomb Rebecca found out why Damon had been acting so weird. Stefan was standing at the mouth of the tomb, and he couldn't get out, which meant Damon couldn't get out, and he hadn't wanted to tell her that. He'd come in because she'd screamed - Stefan, too, for some reason. And now . . . now they were stuck inside and it was her fault.

"We can't just leave them in there," Bonnie said. Rebecca felt relieved that she hadn't had to say that herself.

"We are not strong enough," Gram said. "Even if we were able to bring the seal down, there's no guarantee that we could get it back up again."

"You went in there not knowing if you could come back out again?" Elena asked. "Oh, my God."

"Grams . . ." Rebecca said, trying to remain calm. "What would it mean if . . . if you tried? Would it hurt you? If you're not strong enough, would you die?"

"If we did a spell outside our limits, yes," Grams put it bluntly.

Rebecca looked down at the ground. She didn't want to risk Bonnie and Grams to get Damon back. Risk people she loved to get someone she loved more back? That wasn't fair.

"Even if we're able to break through the seal we won't be able to hold it for long," Grams said, making the decision for her.

Rebecca, being the kind to think quickly on her feet, unclasped her necklace and handed it to Grams. "You can channel energy? Take some of mine."

"That's very dangerous, dear."

"I don't care. I'm not leaving them in there. I love Damon, and I told Anna that I would help her get Pearl back. Leaving her in there to rot is not helping her."

Grams was hesitant but she agreed and took the necklace anyway.

"Once the seal is broken you'll have maybe a minute before the door closes. We'll give you enough time to find them and then we'll start."

"Okay."

But at the mouth of the tomb Stefan stopped her. "I'll go. You're bleeding, it's not safe."

She looked at him suspiciously. "Damon, Anna, _and_ Pearl?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll wait here."

Bonnie and Grams started the spell and almost immediately the flames flew higher and Rebecca felt the difference in her body as Grams pulled energy from her. Or Bonnie - whoever. It was odd, almost like fainting, where everything wanted to fade out, only she didn't faint and it was in slow motion.

One of the torches went out and the younger witch stumbled over the words.

"Bonnie, keep going," Grams encouraged. "They better hurry."

Elena went to the entrance of the tomb and yelled, "Stefan, they can't hold it much longer!"

* * *

Meanwhile, in the tomb, Damon was watching Anna get her mother strong again. He thought that she was only fighting a losing battle.

"Anna, we're stuck in here. You're not doing her any favors by waking her up. She's just going to starve again."

"You're in here," Anna muttered. "Rebecca will find away to reverse the spell."

"Might take a while."

"Or _not_," Stefan's voice came from a few feet away. "We need to get Pearl out of here. It's what Rebecca wants, and we need to hurry. We have less than a minute. Sheila is channeling Rebecca's energy to lift the seal. Rebecca won't last too long, not with the bite she took."

Anna grinned Damon's way. "Told ya so."

"Yeah, yeah."

Damon and Stefan grabbed Pearl and lifted her up so they could run with her. Anna trailed behind them. Once outside Damon looked only at Rebecca, who had fallen to the ground. As soon as they were out, Damon went to her, leaving Pearl to Anna and Stefan. She was aware the tomb door slammed shut behind him, but he was focused on Rebecca and her rapidly slowing heartbeat.

The witches had fallen to their knees as well but he wasn't worried about them. He was checking Rebecca for injuries other than the obvious. Her skin was cold but that was probably from the chilled winter air.

He felt his face change as he bit into his wrist. He didn't need his fangs to break the skin but the overwhelming emotion from the thought of losing her now was hard to control, so the vampire part of him rose to the surface.

He could still save her, though. He forced her mouth open and let his blood flow into her mouth and down her throat - she wasn't so far gone that she couldn't swallow. He breathed deeply, blinking against the prickling behind his eyes. If she died, it would be because of him, because she did this to help him. So . . . she couldn't die.

Bonnie had crawled over to them and she was holding Rebecca's hand.

"Will she . . ." Bonnie bit her lip. "Is she in danger of becoming . . . ?"

"No," he forced out. "She's still alive. My blood will help her wake up."

The little witch nodded. "Grams told her it was dangerous but she wouldn't leave you in there. I'm sorry."

"She'll be okay," he said, because he refused to believe otherwise.

Rebecca began moaning and moving her head, and he drew his wrist back. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at them both and smiled softly.

"It worked."

"Yeah. Everybody got out that was supposed to," Bonnie said.

Rebecca sat up and Damon remained silent. He was torn between emotions, so he chose not to say anything. He was glad she was okay, glad he wasn't trapped inside the tomb - he'd had enough on starving to last his entire existence, thanks very much. But he was angry that she'd risked her life to save his. Hers was much more valuable.

"Grams?" Rebecca asked.

"She's okay. She's tired, though."

"Jeremy?"

"He's right outside. We won't touch him," Anna said.

Rebecca took in Pearl, who needed a lot more blood to get her maximum strength back. Anna was tending to her mother tenderly, lovingly.

"So we're good now, right?" Rebecca asked. "You got your mother back, so everyone I love is safe."

"Yes." Anna smiled softly. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

* * *

Rebecca had to take it slow but she got up to the top with Elena and Stefan and Damon. She wanted to check on Jeremy. He'd been hit on the back of the head. There was a very bad odor coming from the area too.

"Did you burn something?" Rebecca asked.

"That would be Ben," Stefan said. "He attacked me first."

"Ah."

"Is he gonna be okay?" Elena asked, gesturing to her brother.

"Yeah, but he'll have a hell of a headache," Damon said.

"Uh!" Jeremy groaned as he woke up.

"Jer?" Rebecca said, kneeling beside him. "Hey, you're okay."

He grabbed his head and sat up. "What happened?"

Ignoring his question Elena asked one of her own. "How's your head?"

"Uh, it's all right. I just wish I knew how I passed out. I didn't drink that much, I swear."

"What were you doing before you passed out?"

"Uh . . . I remember I was walking with Anna, but other than that, it's pretty cloudy."

"Okay. It's okay."

"I know how this looks," Jeremy told Elena. "I'm sorry."

"No, don't be sorry. You didn't do anything wrong, okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

Just then Rebecca saw Bonnie trying to sneak Grams away and she excused herself. When she reached the two witches she asked if everything was okay.

"We're fine," Grams said. "You don't need to coddle me, baby."

"It was a big spell, Grams," Bonnie said. "I could tell it took a lot out of you."

"I'll be fine," Grams handed her the necklace back. "That was a very selfless thing you did. It helped Bonnie a lot."

"I couldn't let you die for helping me. I never would've forgiven myself. Anyway -" she replaced the necklace around her neck and then continued " - I am exhausted, so . . . I'm gonna head home."

It was as she was leaving that Damon told her how stupid a stunt she'd pulled.

"You would've done the same for me." She decided to not be offended - she was too tired.

"You could've tried a different day. I wouldn't have died but you could have. And then what? Hm? We still would've been stuck in there and you would've died for nothing!"

"You went in there for _me_, Damon! If you had gotten stuck it would've been my fault."

"No, I made my choice - "

"So did I!" she said firmly. "And, frankly, I don't have the strength to argue right now so can we _not_? I mean, I'm still here and you're free, so it didn't end that badly, right?"

She put her arms around him, knowing that most of his anger was coming from worry.

"It's over now, and I'm okay, okay? They wouldn't have been able to do it alone, not safely, and I couldn't let them die, okay? I can't pick and choose between the people I love."

Damon sighed and shook his head and finally wrapped his arms around her, too. "You're . . . infuriating, you know that?"

"Everybody seems to think so." She giggled against his chest. "I really do have to go home, Damon."

Damon gave her a ride home and then she went inside her house that didn't really feel like home because Damon wasn't there.

* * *

Okay, so let me know what you guys think. This is what I think would happen, personally, if Damon was happy and had someone who loved him the way he deserved to be loved. I didn't want to make his character too different, so . . . this is what I came up with.


	40. Chapter 35

Chapter Thirty-Five

The same night that Rebecca and her friends opened the tomb she got a call from Elena around midnight. Elena was at Bonnie's and Rebecca had a spark of premonition. Something was wrong; Elena wouldn't have been calling so late if everything was fine.

Before Rebecca could ask what was wrong she heard, "She's not breathing!" in the background. It was Bonnie's voice and she was _screaming_.

"Elena?" Rebecca said. "What's going on?"

"It's Bonnie's Grams. She came home and went to bed and now she's not breathing. I called the cops a minute ago but I thought you should know."

"Well, wh -what do you want me to do?" Rebecca didn't wait for an answer. "I'm . . . I'm gonna come over there."

"Okay, but . . . it's bad. Bonnie's trying to bring her back with magic."

"Uh . . . well, I'll be there in a minute."

Rebecca hung up. She didn't bother getting dressed - she was in her pajamas. She just grabbed a thick jacket and slipped her shoes on. She was sort of caught in a state of disbelief; Grams had been fine earlier, she'd _said_ she was fine so this couldn't be happening.

And . . . Grams had said the necklace, the channeling, had helped. This was just a bad dream and she'd wake up in the morning and everything would be fine.

Then Rebecca remembered. Grams' exact words were that the necklace had helped Bonnie - she hadn't mentioned herself.

By the time Rebecca got to Sheila's house an ambulance was parked outside and Bonnie and Elena were outside in the front yard. Elena was holding a sobbing Bonnie, and Rebecca cautiously stepped up to them. She didn't know if Bonnie would want her there. Rebecca had been the one to plan on helping Anna in the first place; Bonnie might blame her.

"Bonnie . . . I'm sorry, I thought she was gonna be okay."

Bonnie lifted her head off of Elena's shoulder. "She knew . . . I think she knew she was gonna die. She wanted to be left alone and then . . ."

"Bonnie went to check on her and she wasn't breathing," Elena said softly.

"What can I do?" Rebecca asked. "What about your dad?"

"He's on his way," Elena said. "I called him."

Rebecca knew that Mr. Bennett didn't like that Bonnie was a witch; he didn't hate her for it, he just didn't want to talk about it. But he _had_ to come for Bonnie now.

Rebecca stayed with Bonnie and Elena until Mr. Bennett came to pick Bonnie up. Rebecca knew Bonnie and her dad would have to go to the hospital some time and Rebecca offered to go with her if she wanted. Both Elena and Rebecca knew what it was like, losing a relative, and they promised to be there for whatever Bonnie would need them for.

* * *

The next day Bonnie didn't call but Rebecca checked in on her anyway. Rebecca felt really guilty even though there was nothing more she could've done. She'd wanted them to do the spell so Damon could get out. No, she hadn't wanted Stefan or Anna or even Pearl stuck in the tomb, but it had been mostly for Damon. Grams had _told_ her that if they used more energy than they had then they would die. And Grams had intentionally filtered the energy from Rebecca's necklace into Bonnie instead of herself. She'd known that Rebecca wouldn't have been able to take both of them channeling energy from her so she hadn't let it happen.

Then she called to check in on Jeremy, who was still sleeping, and Elena said he had woken up feeling like he had a massive hangover, so he'd decided to go back to sleep. Other than that he was fine.

"So, Jenna did some digging about the adoption," Elena started hesitantly. "Dad kept everything from his medical practice. Records, logs and appointment books. She found an entry from the night I was born. Patient and a birth date."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, and I know I shouldn't even be bringing this up with Bonnie's Grams and all but I had to tell someone and I can't bother her with this."

"I get that."

"Okay, well, Isobel Peterson was the name she used. We looked her up and her real name was Isobel Flemming; she got the last name from her best friend Trudie Peterson, who lived in Grove Hill, Virginia."

"That's not far from here."

"That's what I said," Elena commented. "Anyway, they were both cheerleaders, and Trudie still lived there in Grove Hill. I was thinking maybe I'd go see her but . . . I'm not really sure I want to."

"Why not? I thought you wanted to know more about your birth parents."

"I did, I do . . . but Mr. Saltzman's wife was named Isobel, and she was from around here. _Was_ as in . . . she died."

"Oh." Rebecca couldn't think of anything to say other than that. _Sorry_ didn't seem to be the right sentiment because Elena hadn't even known the woman. "His wife might have been your mother?"

"It can't be true, right? I mean, the coincidence alone is just crazy."

"Yeah, crazy. But . . . what if she is? I'm not saying she is, but what if . . ."

She heard Elena sigh on the other end. "I don't know. If they are the same person then that means my birth mother is dead, and I don't know if I could handle that."

* * *

Meanwhile, at the boardinghouse, Damon was just about to go out for a bite to eat - he couldn't drink from blood bags for the rest of his existence; they kept him healthy but fresh was always better - when Stefan stopped him in the hallway.

"Can we talk?"

"Do we have to?" Damon pretended to complain.

"Yes. There was a woman you may have known a few years back named Isobel, in North Carolina at Duke."

"You wanna discuss the women of my past right now? Seriously?"

"You killed her."

"What's your point?" He'd killed a lot of people, so what was so important about this one?

"I just wanna know if you remember anything about her."

"It's like a needle in a haystack, Stefan."

"Well, think hard. It's important."

"Why is it important? Did you know her? Because I'm sure I've killed a lot of Isobels."

"Damon . . ." Stefan glowered at him. "Be helpful why don't you?"

"I don't feel like it. I've helped you once this week; that's my limit."

"I could always ask Rebecca to ask you," Stefan threatened. "Of course then I'd have to explain why I want to know, and that would lead to her learning about how you killed Isobel for no apparent reason. How do you think that would make her feel?"

Damon chose to ignore the little ripple of fear in his brain at that statement.

"Rebecca knows who I am, what I do. She cares anyway. That day I almost killed her, do you know how much she hated me for that? She didn't, at all. So this? I don't think it'll even register. I've killed before and she's forgiven me. So go ahead, tell her. It won't change anything."

He left Stefan behind to fume silently about the fact that Damon hadn't taken the bait about filling Rebecca in. _But_ Rebecca wasn't as uptight as Elena. Rebecca accepted the entire package; she accepted the fact that he was a man _and_ a vampire. And, as crazy as it was, she accepted the fact that he had killed people and would probably kill again because she couldn't have the man without also having the vampire that went along with him. Granted, she didn't _like _that he killed people - but, hey, he hadn't killed anybody in a long time - but she let him be himself.

Whatever himself was now; he sort of felt like every day he was changing. He was becoming what she needed him to be, but she never told him what that was exactly so she wasn't forcing the issue, he was learning on his own.

* * *

Rebecca got a call from Liz later that day. Some hiker had been attacked in the woods and his clothes had been stolen.

"His . . . clothes were stolen?" Rebecca asked. "That's a new one for me."

"And me," Liz sighed. "That wasn't the only reason I called. I need more people to help promote the bachelor raffle. Could you help Caroline put up signs and stuff?"

"When? I can help today and tomorrow." Rebecca felt sort of bad for not helping Bonnie but Bonnie hadn't said she needed it. Rebecca couldn't help if she didn't know what she was supposed to do.

"Great. It shouldn't take long. As long as everything is up by Friday we'll be great. Oh, and the next time you see Damon can you feel him in on the new vampire situation?"

"Sure, yeah."

"Thank you," Liz said sincerely.

"No problem."

So later that day Rebecca spent her time with Caroline putting up banners and flyers in town. Caroline told her that Matt's mom, Kelly Donovan, was back in Mystic Falls. She had caught Matt and Caroline making out on the couch, which Caroline said was embarrassing, and she was sure Mrs. Donovan didn't like her at all. It was no secret that Kelly didn't like Caroline's mom, so it wouldn't surprise Rebecca if Kelly transferred her feelings over to Caroline without giving her a chance.

"But other than Mrs. Donovan you and Matt are okay?"

"Yeah, we're great. I just hope his mom doesn't cause problems."

"He likes you too much to let his mom get in the way. I mean, who knows when she'll take off again. She never sticks around for long."

Caroline crossed her fingers and smiled. "Here's to hoping."

Rebecca held onto a ladder while Caroline climbed. They were in front of the Grill, hanging up a banner, and she was making Caroline do all the height stuff - mostly because Rebecca didn't feel like doing it herself.

They ran into Jenna and Mr. Saltzman that day; they'd been hassled into helping out, too. Mr. Saltzman even more so because he was one of the men being raffled off.

"I don't know, it's just weird. You know? Me being raffled off like a Disney cruise."

"In this town fundraising is like indentured servitude," Jenna explained. "You don't have a choice. And besides, you're a bachelor and you're eligible, so there you go."

_Eligible, my ass_, Rebecca thought. There were serious vibes going on between the two of them that was almost nauseating to watch. She hoped she and Damon didn't give off vibes like that.

"Come on, Care, let's give these two some privacy."

It hit Rebecca then that if . . . if this Isobel woman was Elena's birth mother then Alaric Saltzman would be Elena's step-father. Or sort of anyway. It was crazy like Elena had said; it couldn't be true.

"Have you heard from Bonnie?" Caroline asked.

"Not really. I know she's with her dad and they're planning a funeral for Sheila, but I haven't really talked to her exactly."

Aside from the very short conversation she'd had with Bonnie that morning, Rebecca hadn't been able to get in touch with her witch friend.

* * *

Rebecca did as Liz asked and told Damon about the new vampire problem. It had been kind of hard because he'd been trying to kiss her at the time, but she'd eventually gotten the words out.

Damon was not one to be distracted, however, because he had a one track mind at the moment. Damon loved sex and he wanted her every time he saw her. Rebecca didn't mind since it was enjoyable for her too. She was sure she loved it just as much as he did. She loved how it made her feel, how he took care of her, made sure she was enjoying it. She loved that, with just one look, he could make her feel wonderful and beautiful and whole. Damon didn't have to say a word; his eyes said it all, sometimes even when he didn't want them to.

His eyes told her he loved her even if he couldn't always say the words. And the knowledge that he did actually love her made it easier to give in whenever he wanted something. It made it harder to resist him in anything, which was bad because Rebecca knew Damon was not above taking advantage of that.

Damon looked up at Rebecca from his spot between her legs and smirked when he saw her lust-lidded eyes. He caressed her thighs and she opened her legs wider for him. He hadn't been lying when he'd first met her; she was fun to play with. Though he meant it in an entirely different way now.

He began nibbling on the spot his hands had just been and in between nips he said, "Did you know . . . if I bite you here, I can make you come . . . without even touching you?"

"No, I . . . I didn't know that."

Rebecca's voice was breathless and husky, and Damon knew that she was no longer thinking about anything but this, them, now. It had been one of his intentions - Rebecca could probably do guilt just as well as Stefan if she tried, and Damon didn't want her feeling guilty about something that wasn't her fault, because Sheila dying wasn't anyone's fault. Sheila had known what she was doing when she'd done it.

Rebecca moaned and it made him want to forget biting her and just get straight to the other part. But he didn't. What with Stefan's incessant questioning earlier in the day, he hadn't gotten to go out to find someone tasty after all.

It didn't matter, because Rebecca tasted better, anyway. And she was a willing donor; so much easier than having to hunt someone down and either kill them or compel them to forget. Besides, love-laced blood was sweeter than fear-laced blood.

So his face took on the appearance of the vampire and he gently slid his fangs into her flesh and began drinking. He had to hold her still because she began squirming beneath him. A quick glance up assured him that he wasn't hurting her, so he continued.

By the time he was done she was a mess of quivering limbs and he had to give her time to catch her breath before they got on to the main event.

* * *

Damon was glad that vampires - and humans, for that matter - couldn't die from sexual exhaustion, because they could both wear the other out. It was good for him, though, because he was usually filled with so much restless energy he didn't know what to do with himself.

After their daily session of love-making - exaggeration there; they didn't have sex _every_ day - they both had needed sleep. Add in the blood he'd consumed from her and Damon would've described himself as lethargic.

He woke up a little bit before she did because his vampire senses had alerted him to the change in her heartbeat and breathing pattern. When her eyelids fluttered open she smiled up at him, still half asleep, but then the smile faded and she sat up, wrapping the sheet around herself out of modesty.

Damon could see it in her eyes; the real world had come back to her now. Sheila was gone and she wasn't coming back. That was the problem with humans; they died. There one day and gone the next.

"I have something to tell you, and I would've told you earlier, but we were a little . . . preoccupied."

"In that case, you're forgiven," he teased lightly. "Now, what's so important?"

Rebecca bit her lip as she tended to do when she was talking about something she didn't want to talk about.

"When I was inside the tomb I counted the vampires and Katherine wasn't in there. She never made it into the tomb. She got away."

Rebecca didn't know how Damon would react so she was treading carefully. Katherine had manipulated him, used him, and taken him away from Rebecca - even if it had only been for a short while.

"She's been out in the world making a nuisance of herself all this time?" he asked.

Damon didn't care one way or the other. Sure, he may have cared once - even though she had compelled him, he had loved her while she'd made him think that he did - but it was nothing compared to what he and Rebecca had; it didn't even come close.

"Yeah. Anna knew she wasn't in there. She realized I was counting, and then she told me. I don't know where she went and I don't know who helped her, but . . ."

"Oh. Well, as long as she doesn't come here, we're good." When he saw the relief in her eyes he chuckled. "What? Why were you walking on eggshells around that name?"

"I didn't know how you would react. I don't know how you feel about that now."

She expected him to make some comment about "feeling implies caring" but he didn't. What would be the point with her? He obviously cared about her - loved her - so he couldn't deny it.

"It was a long time ago."

"Yeah, but you hold on to things," Rebecca said softly.

"Well . . . I'm not a member of her fan club. We can put it that way. But I don't care that she got out. Survival instincts and all, I probably would've done the same thing."

"Okay."

Rebecca decided not to push. He would never hurt _her_ for pushing - she knew that. But it didn't stop him from hurting someone else if he got pissed off.

"So what're you doing tomorrow?" Damon asked.

"Well, if Bonnie doesn't call me, then I'm helping Caroline with this thing, this charity thing."

"Oh, Blondie. Ever the convenient distraction," he quipped, and she hit him on the chest harder than necessary. He gave her a mock pained expression. "Ouch."

"You could be nicer to her. She kept you in fresh blood the first few weeks you were here. She put up with a lot from you and you traumatized her."

Damon shook his head and rolled his eyes. "I'm never nice if I can help it."

It was her turn to roll her eyes. "Whatever. I'm gonna go take a shower. And by the way, you treated her so bad that whenever _I_ get hurt she thinks you did it."

She left him to think about that for a while. Or she tried to, but he appeared in front of her.

"What do you tell her?"

"That it's not you doing it. But, you know, that's what _she_ said when it was her being hurt so who knows if she believes me."

Damon really hadn't thought about that, about what people would think about Rebecca being with someone like him. He knew she didn't really care, she was just giving him a hard time for mistreating one of her friends, but he didn't want people thinking Rebecca would stay with someone who was mistreating her. He couldn't stop her from getting hurt, though, because sometimes he couldn't be there when she had to fight.

Elena, Bonnie, and Stefan knew it wasn't him hurting Rebecca. And her family too, to a certain extent. But Caroline was completely clueless about Rebecca's life and extracurricular activities. All Caroline knew was that Rebecca was with him and that he had mistreated _her_ when they'd been together, so of course she had no reason to believe it was any different with Rebecca.

* * *

The next day Caroline came over to Rebecca's house early. Bonnie had called to say she didn't need any help and that was about all she'd said. It was a desperate cry for _help_ in Rebecca's opinion, but she would let her witch friend deal with it on her own. Unless Bonnie asked otherwise.

Rebecca watched Caroline put her makeup on and wondered why she was putting on makeup to help set up for a charity auction. Rebecca hadn't thought about it before she'd become a Slayer but she understood now why Caroline never wanted to be at home. The Forbes' had a huge house but Caroline was usually the only one ever in it. Liz was never home, always at work, never with Caroline. And the blonde's dad had moved after he'd come out of the closet. Rebecca thought that Caroline resented her mom because of her dad, that maybe if Liz had been a better wife then her dad would've stuck around.

The truth, though, was people were who they were. If they were gay, they were gay. It couldn't be helped. People were people. Sometimes Caroline had a hard time understanding that.

Caroline complained about not being able to help Bonnie and Rebecca agreed that it was weird that Bonnie didn't want their help. She hoped that Bonnie wasn't still trying to bring Sheila back with magic - there were so many things that could go wrong with that. She might make Grams a zombie or something.

After the two girls were done helping set up for the bachelor raffle thing Rebecca asked Caroline if she wanted to go shopping.

"You're asking me? When do I _not_ want to go shopping?" Caroline asked, semi-serious.

"Well, it's not for us. It's for Chelsea and -"

"Oh!" Caroline almost squeaked. "Baby clothes! Yay!"

Rebecca giggled at her blond friend's antics. Caroline was such a fashionista.

* * *

Rebecca and Caroline went to pick up Chelsea from Rebecca's house and they took Caroline's car to Richmond to visit the Chesterfield Town Center. The best shopping mall that was anywhere near Mystic Falls. The reason Caroline had been asked was because Caroline would know where everything was and it wouldn't take as long to find what Rebecca wanted to get her sister.

The Sears was so big there that there was an escalator going to the second floor.

The first thing Rebecca got was a pretty red dress for Rebecca. There were a few events - Founder's Day events - coming up and Chelsea needed at least one new outfit for it. By that time Chelsea would hopefully be walking on her own so the dress would be amazingly cute on her baby sister.

The second thing Rebecca did was just purely for fun. She got Chelsea a faux leather jacket for $20. A pair of blue jeans and baby biker boots. Chelsea already had a white shirt to go with it.

"Aw!" Caroline said when she saw the finished product. "Damon will love it."

"I know," Rebecca said. "That's why I'm getting it."

"Something's missing, though."

"What?"

"Ray Bans," Caroline said. "You gotta complete the look."

Rebecca smiled and began going toward the accessories.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Mystic Falls and at the Grill, Damon was having a few drinks. He hadn't had a good buzz in a long while. He didn't miss it when he was with Rebecca - she was his buzz when she was with him - but she wasn't going to be with him for the majority of the day so . . . hence the alcohol.

Mr. Saltzman - Alaric or something like that - was there, too, also drinking.

"Behold, the teacher. Don't you have some papers to grade?"

"It's, uh, more fun with a buzz."

"Well, most things in life are. Sober is . . . depressing."

"You don't strike me as somebody who gets depressed," the teacher said, looking at him.

"You say that like you know me."

"Nope. It's just a hunch." Alaric put his drink down and stood up. "You have yourself a good day."

"Not likely."

And seriously? Something was wrong with the new history teacher. He either knew about Damon or suspected, one or the other. Compulsion be damned. The history teacher . . . something was off about him, that was for sure.

Shortly after that, Liz came up to him. Of course she was in uniform. The woman never gave herself a day off.

"Daytime drinkin', huh?"

"It's all the rage."

"Listen, I need a favor."

Jeez, what vampire problem couldn't she take care of now?

"Look, there's a fundraiser here tomorrow night that the Founder's Council is throwing. The town's most eligible bachelors get raffled off for dates."

Ah. Damon could see where she was going with this and he also noticed how uncomfortable Liz's voice was. She obviously didn't want to ask him what she was going to ask him.

"And, well . . . we're short a bachelor."

Damon leaned in closer. "Is this what you do when there aren't any vampires? Organize bachelor raffles?"

The fact that he was making light of the situation seemed to ease her tension, and Damon was surprised that it made him feel better too. Ugh! He'd have to squish that or he'd end up emoting like Stefan.

"At this point, trust me, I miss the vampires," Liz said.

"Ah."

"Look, you're a hero to this town, Damon. I know most people don't know it, but you are."

He almost wanted to laugh. He was no hero. He killed people and, more often than not, he liked it. Killing was in his nature, it was who he was.

"And you're not married, and you're a catch." He didn't know if she was trying to butter him up or not, but either way she resorted to begging. "Oh, come on, help me out. Carol Lockwood won't let me live it down if I come up empty handed."

He looked at her pleading eyes and realized then that Elizabeth Forbes had obviously gotten under his skin, because he decided to give in, and only the people he cared about could get him to do that without a fight.

"You know . . . a room full of women clamoring to win a date with me? Sounds tasty."

Liz's body showed her relief; the tension just vanished. "Thank you."

"One thing," Damon said, catching her before she left. "Can you get information on someone for me? Alaric Saltzman, the history teacher. There's just something a little off about him and I just wanna make sure the high school did their homework on this guy."

Liz nodded, no questions asked. "You got it."

"Thanks."

Okay, so having connections was awesome. And he hadn't even had to threaten her. It was almost like they were two friends doing each other a favor. Liz wasn't so bad. A little married to her job, maybe, but she genuinely wanted to help this town. She'd been brought up the way he and Stefan had been. To think vampires were bad because they were vampires.

Wasn't her fault, really. It was just the way it was.

* * *

Later that same day Rebecca was with Stefan and Elena - Damon had been with them, but for some reason had been annoyed with Stefan and had left - in Elena's room at the Gilbert residence.

Elena had told Damon about finding her birth mother before he'd left but he hadn't seemed to care. He didn't even really understand the importance of finding someone who so obviously hadn't wanted Elena in the first place. Elena should have written her off as a lost cause and moved on.

"So, I went to see Trudie Peterson," Elena said. "I didn't plan it, it just sort of happened."

"How was it?" Stefan asked.

Rebecca's question was, "What did you find out?"

"She has vervain. She knows about vampires; it can't be a coincidence."

Rebecca looked at Stefan and, since she knew he would lie if he thought it would benefit Elena or protect Elena's feelings, she asked him bluntly how much he'd revealed to Elena about Alaric Saltzman.

"I know that he knows about vampires," Elena answered.

"Everything he knows about vampires, he learned from his wife," Stefan said. He looked at Elena sympathetically. "He thinks that she was killed by one."

"Oh my God," Elena said, in shock.

"That's why he came here?" Rebecca asked.

"Yes. He wants answers. He said they never found her body. But before she died . . . she was researching this town, so she knew."

"Well, she grew up in Grove Hill, so that makes sense."

Rebecca looked at Elena now with her usual scrutiny that she used with most people, like she was trying to figure them out.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Elena nodded but didn't say anything. She just sat on her bed and Stefan immediately went to her. And just as immediately, Rebecca felt she was intruding.

"Um . . . I'm gonna go now. I'm gonna go home and . . . Oh, yeah."

Stefan and Elena were in their own little world now anyway. And Stefan was so much better at the comforting thing that she was.

* * *

On the way home Rebecca realized she was being followed by Damon. She didn't let on that she knew at first but then she said, "You know I can feel you there, Damon."

He'd been in a weird mood and she didn't know why. It probably had something to do with Stefan - it usually did.

"Did you know that I am one of Mystic Fall's most eligible bachelors?" he asked, matching his pace with her.

"Bachelor?" Rebecca shook her head. "Really? Because I'd say you're pretty much spoken for."

"Yeah. Well, I'm doin' the sheriff a favor. Participating in the raffle."

"Hm."

Rebecca knew the drill for the raffle. Women bought tickets for the fundraiser, and all the money gained went towards the Founder Day celebration, which was held in February or March. The person whose ticket got picked got a bachelor for a date.

"Hm?" he asked. "What does 'hm' mean?"

"It's what I say when I have nothing else to say. What did you _want_ me to say?"

"I don't know. I half thought I'd get an earful. 'No, you can't do that, you belong to me'," he put on a high pitched voice and smirked.

"Okay . . . One, I don't sound like that. Two: if I had said that, you would've done it anyway just to spite me. Three, you belong _with_ me. Not to me. There's a difference. I mean, you're not a piece of real estate."

Rebecca had to admit that, yes, she had a possessive streak when it came to Damon, but not over this. _This_ was a fundraiser and it didn't mean anything. Then it hit her. Damon Salvatore was helping with a fundraiser . . . as a favor.

"Huh."

"I didn't even say anything this time," Damon said. "What's goin' on in that pretty little head of yours?"

"Nothing."

"Sure."

"I can't tell you because you'll just deny it."

Rebecca didn't elaborate, but she didn't have to. Damon instinctively knew what she meant. It seemed he was helping without a motive for doing so and, if he was being completely honest with himself, it had started out that way. Asking Liz to investigate the teacher had been a last minute decision.

Damon was well aware that he was to blame for some of the chaos in Rebecca's life. Vicki, Lexi, her friends alienating her at one time - just to name a few things. But he was grateful for the way Rebecca had stuck by him. He and Rebecca had a powerful friendship even without the other stuff.

Damon had stability in his life now - sort of, for the most part - and direction since he'd found Rebecca again. And Rebecca was more confident now, but he wasn't sure he could take credit for that or if that was just the Slayer in her.

"I can do something nice every once in a while," he stated. "Let's not make a big deal out of it."

"I'm not. I just . . . don't expect it and so it surprises me. You're so unpredictable, I never know from one second to the next what you're gonna do. It's one of the things I like about you best, even if it can be . . . infuriating sometimes."

"Hm." Damon grew serious for a moment. "Why're you walking home?"

"Uh . . . because I walked to Elena's?" Rebecca shrugged. "It's two minutes away."

"Yeah, well, it's nighttime, and walking around Mystic Falls after dark can be an extreme sport."

"Yeah, well, I have to patrol sometime, and nighttime is usually when the vampires like to play."

"So that explains the come-bite-me outfit."

Rebecca had on low-rider jeans that showed her hip bones, a shirt that showed her belly button, and boots - and it was nearing the end of December. The half jacket didn't help any against the cold winter air but she wore it nonetheless.

Damon found it sexy as hell, and his eyes lingered over her longer than was completely necessary. Rebecca, however, felt as though she were masquerading as a prostitute.

"If you're going to be doing this a lot, we're gonna have to find you a car, Becca."

"I don't need a car, Damon. I can't ride around town to find vampires."

"I don't like you going around town looking for vampires, period," Damon said. "Besides, the car wouldn't only be for finding vampires. There are other, more fun, things, we could do in a car."

Rebecca breath hitched and his insinuation. "Oh? Do tell . . ."

Damon smirked and wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her closer. His hand slid over her bare stomach and she shivered against his touch.

"Damon! We're outside. I said tell, not show!"

* * *

They ended up at a seedy place in downtown Mystic Falls, and the first thing Damon did was get himself a drink, leaving her to try and home her radar. Which would have been easier if a guy hadn't come up to her the second she was alone.

"Well, hey there." He was a big brute of a man and he smelled like cheap whiskey. She knew the difference between the cheap stuff and the good stuff thanks to Damon's fascination with bourbon.

She mostly ignored the man other than to smile politely his way. She wasn't here to socialize and, even if she had been, it wouldn't have been with someone who came onto her like that. God, what being a Slayer entailed. She was having to put up with this moron who seemed like he'd taken one too many steroids.

"Hello, I'm talking to you."

She looked at him now and said, "I'm not interested, okay?"

The guy grabbed her arm hard enough to make her flinch. "Attitude problem, serious. Guys around her don't dig that. Maybe you should apologize."

Rebecca wasn't sure she'd heard him right. She was the one with attitude? Really? Boy, was he lucky he was human or she would've hit him. She couldn't let loose on a human because she'd likely kill him.

"I'm not walking away without one."

Damon was suddenly there, nose to nose with the ass that was just begging to be killed.

"Then maybe you're not walking away," he said.

Damon had been at the bar, and he'd been fine until the guy had grabbed Rebecca. Guys coming onto her he'd have to deal with. She was beautiful so it was to be expected. But her being manhandled like she was a piece of ass was not something he'd allow himself to get used to.

The guy was human and Damon knew Rebecca wouldn't hurt him unless she absolutely had to, but Damon . . . Damon didn't care if the guy got hurt or not. He probably even deserved it. And the guy was a coward. Faced with someone who wasn't a girl, he hesitated and decided to slink back into the crowd in the building.

"Thanks," Rebecca said softly, rubbing the spot the guy had been grasping.

There was a red hand-print there. Damon felt like finding the guy and leaving a mark of his own.

"Becca, you don't belong in a place like this," Damon said, pulling her close to him. "Girls like you don't come to places like this. Promise me you won't come here by yourself. _Ever_."

"I won't come here by myself. I wouldn't have come here tonight if you hadn't been with me."

"Good."

While Rebecca was taking in the people around her - only one of them was a vampire and he was keeping to himself and not bothering a soul - Damon had more than one drink and he ended up bar dancing. Rebecca had a lunatic for a boyfriend - Damon wasn't completely drunk and he was still outgoing and willing to do things like that.

She laughed, forgetting all the drama in her life. When she was with Damon it didn't matter that Elena was having problems with the adoption, and it didn't matter that Rebecca thought that maybe Bonnie was mad at her. Things were right, here with Damon. Things where how they should be.

* * *

Okay, so here's the new update. Hope you guys enjoyed it. I have a few surprises coming up in the next few chapters, so . . . anticipate! LOL

Review please. Let me know what's good or what needs improvement and whatnot.


	41. Chapter 36

Chapter Thirty-Six

The day of the bachelor raffle Rebecca had to talk to Diana about _stuff_. She let Diana know that she had a boyfriend, that her family knew about the Slayer thing, and that a few of her friends also knew. Diana was not happy, to say the least.

"Secret identity, Rebecca," she said in her high and mighty British way. "Do you even know what that means?"

"Nope, I've gone temporarily dumb," Rebecca shrugged. "It was inevitable, really. They're in my life. They will not take a backseat to my slaying. My friends and family are more important to me."

Diana pursed her lips, took a deep breath, and sighed. "As long as you do your job . . . you can do whatever you want."

Rebecca was surprised. She'd expected a long but not so vicious fight. "Really?"

"Well, I haven't heard any complaining from the Council, so you have to be doing something right. Besides, you will be eighteen in a few weeks - I think you have the making your own decisions down to a T. You aren't one for towing the line, that's for sure."

Rebecca shrugged. "I don't like people telling me what to do."

"I've realized that. I've decided not to push anymore. You come to me when you need me and I'll help."

Rebecca wasn't as trusting as she used to be so she was immediately suspicious of the mood change.

"Why?"

"Most Slayers have a relationship with their Watcher; you don't."

"I let you train me. We have a business relationship. I trust you enough to train with you. That's just going to have to be good enough for now."

"Hm." Diana went quiet and got even more serious than she usually was. "I'm sorry about Sheila Bennett. I know you liked her. I imagine your Bonnie is quite shaken."

Rebecca didn't answer. She didn't know what to say. She hadn't explained any of this to Diana and she didn't know how the Watcher knew.

Diana smiled softly. "I knew Shelia when I was younger, before she moved back here to start a family. She was a good witch."

"Well, thank you."

Bonnie _still_ hadn't called Rebecca and it had been two days since Shelia had passed away. She wasn't picking up the phone when Rebecca tried to call her, and Rebecca felt even more awful when Elena told her that Bonnie wasn't getting in touch with her either. Something was wrong.

The funeral was to be held the next day, so she would see Bonnie then and hopefully she could find out if Bonnie was mad at her. She wanted to apologize if Bonnie was angry with her, but . . . She knew if she had it to do over, she'd do the same thing. Nobody else would've been able to do it and she wouldn't have left Damon in there to starve.

That revelation was horrible because that meant she would've let someone die for Damon's sake - _again_. She was always having to choose between Damon's life and someone elses and she knew - always knew - what her choice would be.

Damon.

* * *

That night at the Grill Rebecca met up with Elena and Caroline. Rebecca really hadn't felt like coming because she had wanted a night off to be at home with her family. She'd wanted to _talk_ to her aunt and father. She wanted them both to sit down and tell her the truth. She wanted to know about what her grandparents had been talking about before they'd left. That her dad wouldn't leave her mom because she'd been pregnant - it was like it had been a chore. That maybe her mom and dad had had a few nights together or something and then . . . Rebecca had happened and Robert hadn't wanted to leave her alone to deal with it like some other men would've.

Could it have been possible that her father had been a respectable man at one point?

But that wasn't the only reason she hadn't wanted to come. She'd started her period earlier and her monthly curse of cramps had hit her too. But instead of curling up in bed and watching a movie right then, she was standing in the Grill with her friends.

Caroline was in charge of the raffle - selling tickets and such. Kelly Donovan, Matt's mom, was there, and Elena gave her a hug. Rebecca didn't because she didn't really care for Kelly. Kelly had abandoned her family, her kids, and Rebecca didn't stand for that.

"He's already been hit on like 35 times," Caroline said, talking about Matt. "He's total cougar bait."

"It's embarrassing," Matt said bashfully.

The way Kelly acted about Caroline pissed Rebecca off. She kept making comments about the blond being a rebound girl and about how Elena had broken Matt's heart. And Caroline just took it. Finally Rebecca couldn't take it anymore; Caroline looked too crestfallen.

"How would you know exactly?" she asked. "You're never here. You didn't even come back when Vicki was attacked and now -"

Now Vicki was dead; but no one else in this group besides Elena and Rebecca knew that.

"Now she's missing," Rebecca said. "Has been since Halloween and you're just coming home now?"

Everyone looked at her. Once again, Rebecca had pointed out what other people were too polite to say. Elena looked at the ground and Matt wouldn't look at his mom. Caroline was smiling softly at Rebecca because at least one of her friends had stood up for her. Rebecca thought Matt should have, but it _was_ his mom they were talking about - she understood the misplaced loyalty.

* * *

Damon, who was at the Grill also, was drinking up a storm. Stefan had annoyed him again - and annoyed to a vampire meant that said vampire could quickly become angry. He was nursing his bourbon when Liz came up to him. She had a folder in her hands so she obviously had something for him.

"I checked up on the history teacher. You want this before or after your big debut?"

"How's it look?" he asked.

"He checks out. Couple of speeding tickets. Rough story, though."

Damon waited expectantly. Even though the guy checked out there was still something off about him.

"It turns out his wife went missing a few years back in North Carolina."

"North Carolina?" The wheels in Damon's brain started turning. Stefan had asked him about some broad in North Carolina that Damon might've known. "She have a name?"

"Yeah. Isobel."

"Isobel."

Stefan's mystery woman. Alaric's wife. Liz showed him a picture of the woman and then he sneaked a glance at the history teacher, who, as it turned out, was also participating in the fundraiser. He understood now, though, why Mr. Saltzman was there. Damon knew Isobel, had fed from her, actually. She'd been smart and funny, maybe a little pathetic, but most humans were.

He knew that Isobel - he knew her as Isobel Flemming - had been a parapsychologist, and had searched him out. He hadn't known she was married, hadn't cared enough to know. But the teacher obviously knew about vampires and, since Stefan was asking about her, Stefan knew that Alaric knew and hadn't said anything.

So much for brotherhood, huh?

When the raffle started he saw that Jenna, Elena, and Rebecca were seated at a table together, and Stefan was standing close by.

Carol Lockwood was introducing the bachelors, who were standing on stage, and when she got to Damon she said they didn't have much on him.

"Well, I'm tough to fit on a card."

"Do you have any hobbies? Like to travel?"

"Oh, yeah. L.A., New York. Couple of years ago I was in North Carlina, near the Duke campus, actually. I think Alaric went to school there. Didn't you, Ric?"

In the audience, Rebecca was watching Damon's sort of confrontation with Ric. She shook her head, knowing things were going to get ugly fast.

"Yeah, because I know your wife did."

Ric's wife . . . Isobel . . . Elena's mother. Elena's mother, who had been killed by a vampire. _Damon_ was a vampire.

"Oh, God," Rebecca muttered and looked at Elena, who seemed to be putting the pieces together too.

"I had a drink with her once. She was, phew, she was a great girl. Did I ever tell you that? Because she was . . . delicious. Mm! Mm-mm-mm."

"Are you okay?"

Jenna was looking at Elena, who had tears in her eyes. She'd obviously figured it out, and Rebecca was conflicted. She was loyal to Damon, she knew that, but he'd had no right to taunt Ric about Isobel. Yes, Ric acted weird, but if his wife had been killed, he had every reason to be a little strange.

Elena got up and said, "I just need some air."

Outside the Grill, Rebecca and Stefan tried to comfort Elena.

"He killed her? _Damon_ is the vampire who killed her?"

"I don't know what happened. Alaric said they never found the body." Stefan looked at his girlfriend with sympathy. "I wanted to tell you. I just - I wanted to know more."

"If . . . they never found the body then how -" Rebecca began, but Stefan cut her off.

"Ric saw Damon feeding on her."

"Oh."

"Look." Stefan looked at Elena again. "He doesn't know about the connection to you. I thought about confronting him, but -"

"Why are you protecting him?" Elena almost shouted.

Stefan looked down at the sidewalk, then at Rebecca, and then at Elena. "Because he hasn't . . . he isn't as . . . He's different with her. I don't want to do anything that might push him back to that, okay?"

Rebecca realized Elena wouldn't argue with that, and then a couple seconds later the brunette recognized someone - a man that had been outside of Trudie's house.

"That's not weird at all," Rebecca muttered.

"Get back inside," Stefan said. "Come on."

"Run away and hide?" Rebecca asked, stunned. "Why don't we go find out who he is?"

"Too risky, now come on."

Stefan was being bossy; he was speaking out of concern, so Rebecca obeyed gracefully, though she couldn't help but think that if it were Damon in this situation they'd already have the unknown guy's name, address, and date of birth. On the other hand, they'd have a date of death too, probably, if Damon had dealt with it.

Back inside, Elena ran smack into Damon, who, of course, made some witty comment and _didn't_ take in Elena's distraught expression at first.

"Whoa, easy. Buy a ticket like everyone else."

"Did you enjoy that? Rubbing it in to Alaric Saltzman?"

From the expression on Damon's face Rebecca thought he was going to say "Well, duh!" but he didn't.

"Just when I was starting to think there was something redeemable about you . . ." the brunette stated - or more like scathed.

Damon looked at each of them. "Am I . . . missing something here?"

"Did I forget to mention when we were talking about my birth mother, the one who gave me up . . . Her name was Isobel."

Rebecca watched as Damon went from cocky and aloof to being regretful when he made the connection. The smirk fell from his face and he frowned.

"Go ahead," Elena said. "Reminisce about how you killed her."

Elena's voice shook and she shoved past Damon. Stefan followed Elena after sharing a look with Damon. Rebecca, however, stayed put. She felt a longing to go after Elena, to comfort her, but there was nothing she could do, so she stayed behind. Her loyalties were torn.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, though, and she heard Damon curse himself. At least now _she_ didn't have to do it for him. But she didn't mention it. Yes, Damon had screwed up, but she could tell that he knew he had, so what would be the point of talking about it now?

* * *

Elena hadn't wanted to stay for the rest of the fundraiser so Stefan had agreed to take her home. Outside the Grill they were met with the man from earlier, the one Elena had recognized from Trudie's.

"I have a message for you," the man said simply.

Stefan grabbed Elena's arm and pulled her behind him. He didn't know what it was, but something about this man was off.

"Who are you?" Stefan asked.

"Stop looking," the man said.

"Stop looking for what?" Elena asked, confused.

"She doesn't want to know you. She doesn't wanna talk to you. You need to stop looking. Do you understand?"

"Isobel?" Elena whispered. "She's alive? Does that mean she's a . . ."

"Elena, he's under compulsion," Stefan said, figuring out what was so weird about the guy.

He should've figured it out right away from the robotic voice to the emotionless eyes . . . this guy had definitely been compelled.

"Do you understand?" the man said again.

"Yes, I do," Elena said.

"Good." The man looked away before turning back to them. "I'm done now."

Before Stefan or Elena could do anything, the man stepped backwards into the road and a truck ran right into him.

Elena instinctively grabbed Stefan and screamed into his chest. Whoever had compelled that man had also told him to kill himself after he delivered that message. Assuming Isobel had done it . . . Elena's birth mother had compelled someone to end their own life.

Stefan and Elena rushed forward after the shock had worn off and Stefan made sure the guy was dead. Elena, however, noticed a phone that was near the man and she picked it up, making sure Stefan didn't see her - he would probably take it away from her if he knew she had it.

If this phone belonged to the man . . . then Elena would have a way of at least knowing whether or not he'd been in contact with Isobel through the phone. She pocketed the phone as Stefan grabbed her hand.

"Come on, let's get out of here."

There was a small crowd gathering around the street so Elena was sure someone would call the cops. She left with Stefan.

* * *

Back inside the Grill, the time came for the bachelors to be raffled off and Rebecca went to sit beside Jenna again. Elena wasn't there - she'd gone home, maybe. As the men congregated on stage Rebecca watched Matt coddle his alcoholic mother.

_Screw that_, she thought. _Mother or not, he shouldn't baby her_. She only came around when she wanted something. Kelly Donovan left Matt to pay for the bills and everything, and he was only seventeen.

A few minutes after the bachelors had been ticketed off, Rebecca noticed that Damon had left. He was obviously in a mood because he hadn't said bye. He now had to go on a date with Carol Lockwood sometime soon. Her ticket was the one that had been chosen for Damon; Jenna had gotten Alaric; Kelly Donovan had gotten a bachelor, too.

Rebecca looked around and noticed that Ric wasn't there either. It wouldn't have bothered her if Damon hadn't just got through teasing him about Isobel, Ric's dead wife. Neither man was here and that didn't bode well for Alaric Saltzman. Rebecca knew that Damon would kill him if Ric went after him.

* * *

At the boardinghouse, Damon was pouring himself a drink even though he was completely aware that he'd been followed home. Alaric Saltzman, history teacher extraordinaire, had just come through the unlocked front door. The Salvatore's never locked their doors because what was the point?

"Are you really this stupid?" Damon asked coldly. He took a look at the teacher, who was holding a wooden stake in his right hand. "Guess so."

Damon understood; he _did_. If anybody had killed Rebecca, he'd go on a killing spree that would amaze even Stefan, so he shoved the teacher across the room just to put some distance between them. Because, even though Ric was human, he still had a stake in his hand.

Alaric landed with a thud and a grunt, and then got back up as quickly as possible.

"You gonna put down the stake?"

The guy wanted answers and Damon understood that too. But he wasn't talking until he felt comfortable enough. Ric was still on the other side of the room, though, watching Damon warily. He didn't drop the stake, the idiot. Did he really think a stick was going to help him.

"Wow. That's courage."

"Where's Isobel? What have you done to my wife?"

Damon moved closer and, to Damon's immense amusement, Ric stayed where he was. The guy had a death wish, maybe?

"Want me to tell you I killed her? Will that make you happy? Because I think you know what happened."

If Damon had let himself, he would've found the situation sad. Hilariously sad, because this guy was caught up on someone who obviously hadn't wanted him enough to stay with him.

"I saw you feeding on her," Ric said, beginning to back away now. Maybe his survival instincts were finally kicking in.

"Yeah, I did. And I wasn't lying. She was _delicious_."

That was when Ric attacked, which Damon had seen coming and blocked easily. It was strike two, and Ric was back on the floor.

"Oh, come on. What do you think happened? Not an inkling? Never considered the possibility?" Ric just looked at him. "I turned her."

Ric's brow furrowed and he asked, "Why?"

"She came to me," Damon said, shrugging. "All pathetic, looking for vampires. But there was something about her, something I liked, something special."

"You turned her because you liked her?"

The thing was, the teacher really was trying to understand what Damon's messed up psyche was trying to explain. So Damon told the truth.

"No, I _slept_ with her because I liked her. I turned her because she begged me to." When all Damon got was silence he continued. "But you knew that, too, didn't you? Hm? I guess she wasn't happy at home. Wasn't happy with life in general, wasn't happy with _you_."

This time when Ric attacked he meant business. He came at Damon, stake-first, but Damon, being the more experienced fighter, grabbed his arm before the wood made contact.

For the first time in a _very_ long time . . . Damon hesitated. He _hesitated_ and he hated it. Damon Salvatore didn't hesitate in anything he did. And definitely not in killing someone. Especially not someone who had come to his home to kill _him_, not someone who he'd given three changes to leave. That was more than most people got from him.

_And yet_, he thought, looking directly at Ric. He squeezed the guy's arm almost to the point of snapping the bone and watched Ric clench his jaw to keep from making a sound. Damon respected him a little for that.

"Okay, we have two choices here," Damon said. "I can kill you right now, no big deal. _Or_ you can go for door number two, and you can leave, forget about it, and go about living your life."

Ric glared for about fifteen seconds and then the wood hit the ground. But Damon didn't let him go right away.

"This is the _only_ warning you get. You so much as look at me the wrong way again and I _will_ kill you. You got it?"

The teacher gave an almost imperceptible nod and Damon let him go. He heard the front door open again and then footsteps as Rebecca and Stefan came into the living room or parlor or whatever people called it now. Stefan looked surprised that Ric was still alive, but so did Rebecca.

Rebecca . . . Damon knew he was the reason Ric was still alive - the teacher should thank her personally. It wasn't so much about her not wanting him to kill anybody; it was more about the changes she'd created in him. She didn't do it on purpose - she'd been willing to take him as he was - but the changes had taken place anyway.

"What happened?" Stefan asked, looking at the stake on the floor and then at Ric, who was favoring his arm.

"Oh, who cares?" Rebecca said, and Damon's lips twitched. "He's alive."

"And he's leaving," Damon added. "Right, Ric?"

Rebecca didn't know what had happened there at the boardinghouse, but, as she'd said, she didn't care. Both Damon and Ric were alive, up walking around so it couldn't be too bad. Damon had let Ric live for some reason. Rebecca didn't need to know said reason.

Stefan escorted Ric out and Rebecca stayed in the room with Damon. He seemed really tense, so she put her arms around him; he stayed tense until he chose to relax.

Damon was slowly becoming used to _and_ addicted to Rebecca's spontaneous bursts of affection, and sometimes he could just accept it as that: Affection. But tonight he was acutely aware that her breasts were touching his chest as she squeezed him close. Forgive him for being a typical man at the moment.

Forgive him because . . . because he hadn't killed the teacher when he'd wanted to and now he was on edge because he'd kept the urge in check, and now it was coming back to bite him in the ass as another equally powerful urge. And he felt like he was about to pop.

He looped an arm around Rebecca's slender waist and focused on the feel of her being there, focused on her heartbeat because he knew that was the only thing that would keep him from snapping as soon as Stefan came back in the house. He kissed her neck and rubbed her back and though of rushing upstairs with her so they could be alone, and he could indulge in both her body and her blood. He actually needed it tonight.

Sex, of course, was a great stress reliever, and fresh human blood took the edge off better than the almost stale blood from the bags. He couldn't say anything about it with Stefan home, so he took her hand in his and rubbed her fingers along his already hard member and smirked when he heard her heart speed up.

When she looked at him, his smirk turned a smile because her cheeks were pink now.

"Really?" she whispered. "God, you're like a teenager."

Damon wondered if she knew she never considered herself one of the teenagers. Maybe it had to do with the fact that she'd never really lived the way other teenagers did.

"Please, I am so much better than a teenager," he teased.

He grabbed her ass and pulled her to him so she could feel how much he wanted her. He was well aware of the fact that his desire for her usually fanned her desire for _him_.

Rebecca squirmed uncomfortably in his embrace and he loosened his grip. Had he unintentionally been holding her too tight?

"Um . . ." Rebecca blushed further. "I don't think I can . . . you know . . . tonight."

"Why not?" Did she not want to? Did she not want him?

"Um . . . I'm having my period and I don't know if you -"

Just from the mention of her blood she felt Damon harden further and she looked at him, astonished. She knew that Damon, as a vampire, needed blood to survive and that it tasted good to him, but she hadn't known it turned him on.

She really had no problem having sex while she was bleeding - she wasn't a heavy bleeder - but with Damon being a vampire . . . she didn't know if it was such a good idea.

"I can handle it," Damon said. "I won't hurt you."

She smiled and wrapped his arms around his neck.

"Then you are free to do what you wish," she said. "Better hurry before Stefan interrupts."

"Mm."

Damon would stake him if Stefan even considered interrupting. Damon knew Stefan was going to want to know why Ric was up walking around, why Damon hadn't killed him. The only reason Damon could think of was Rebecca. He didn't wake up wanting to start the day off with a slaughter because of her - maybe it showed he was growing as a person. Sure, he remembered how much he had liked killing - to a vampire, it was like . . . Well, there was an unnatural thrill, a high that went along with killing. He didn't relish it quite as much as he used to.

Regaining focus, he raced them upstairs and covered her mouth with his own. He was surprised when she began to respond with unrestrained passion. Usually she was a little timid, a little shy. Maybe she was becoming comfortable with the fact that she was a very sexual woman.

Her hands roamed over his back as their tongues danced; his hands massaged over breasts, and he placed her against the wall so she couldn't move much. He took a brief pause and moved away a little.

"Just a warning, I don't think I can be gentle tonight." He'd had hundreds of nights like this one, but never with Rebecca. It was one of those nights . . . he didn't _want_ to be tender or affectionate but he wouldn't let himself be with her this way without telling her first; he could hurt her if they got too caught up. She would have to let him be in control because it would be so easy to hurt her if he did _one_ wrong thing. And . . . he couldn't and wouldn't compel her to be with him when he was on edge if she didn't want to be.

In fact, he was _too _on edge; the vampire part of him was too close to the surface. He would do what he could to make sure she was ready but he wouldn't be able to be as patient as he usually was with her. So he was giving her a chance to walk away if she didn't want to be with him when he was like this.

"I think I can take it," Rebecca said seriously. She knew what was wrong now. The power of mercy was not - hadn't been - Damon's usual way of going about things. Not even a month ago Alaric Saltzman would have been dead had he pulled a stunt like he had tonight. And to Damon, the fact that he'd let the man live probably presented itself as a weakness - when really, forgiveness was one of the greatest strengths anybody could have; it was a gift - and Damon hated appearing weak. To anyone.

"Will I live?" she asked lightly, trying to ease the tension.

"I've gotten used to your company," Damon answered dryly. "You will make it to see another day."

Damon began kissing her neck, which she loved. He found that ironic since she was the Slayer - by definition she probably shouldn't like anyone messing with her neck; she should guard it with her life, literally.

He knew he was taking a risk, doing this tonight with her, but he really didn't care. He knew he wouldn't do any permanent damage, and he _had_ warned her. It was all her fault anyway. He was horny as hell - one urge had changed into another - and he wanted to . . . he wanted to fuck Rebecca senseless for being who she was, for messing him up so bad, for making him care so much, for making him into a person who wouldn't kill someone who was attacking him.

So, yes, it was her fault, and he was not going to make love to her tonight.

They hadn't made it to the room yet because Damon had stopped right outside to press her against the door, and to warn her, but now he went in. He removed Rebecca's shirt and almost ripped her bra off; he would have had he not thought Rebecca would've kicked his ass for his efforts. His jeans tightened uncomfortably as he took her in, and she leaned in and nipped at his earlobe. He wanted to tease her until she was begging but he knew tonight it wasn't going to happen. Tonight he couldn't wait to be inside her.

He began lowering her pants and watched as she stepped out of her ballet flats. She had them in ever color; he knew because he'd been in her closet. He pulled the pants down to her knees and then lowered her panties - navy blue lace. He couldn't even stop to admire her, so hot was his desire.

He groaned once the panties were down because he felt the string that was attached to her tampon. He really didn't have time to throw the thing away. When he pulled the offensive thing out of her Rebecca's eyes widened in surprise.

"These things are bad for you," he said, dropping it onto the floor, hoping it wouldn't stain the wood but also not caring much at the moment if it did.

"Not the best time to be discussing feminine hygiene," she muttered.

Damon was encouraged when he slid a finger between her folds and found she was already wetter than he'd expected her to be. Apparently she was on the same page as he was. He shouldn't have been surprised - they usually were on the same page; that was why they fit so well together.

Without so much as a by-your-leave, he buried his finger inside her and watched as she began to quiver. _Already_. Thank God, she was one of the girls who would respond positively when she was on her period. Some girls didn't like it, it hurt them. Rebecca wasn't one of those girls.

Rebecca gasped as he continued and she would've told him to get on with it had she been able to speak. He'd begun using his mouth on her breasts and all she could do was try to remember to breathe. Though she was sure Damon would get a kick out of it if she passed out from his ministrations. When he added a second finger she arched her back and the only thing she could say was, "Now, Damon!"

Damon had no problem listening to that particular instruction. He removed his fingers, amused when her hips tried to follow his digits. She shimmied out of her jeans and he unbuckled his belt and unzipped his zipper. Her scent lingered on his fingers and his hands trembled when he saw the blood. It wasn't because it was blood; it was because it was _her_ blood.

Rebecca hurriedly helped remove his shirt and then she hoisted herself up and wrapped her legs around him. She let out a deep, throat groan as she lined herself up with his cock. He almost slammed her into the wall - they were forgetting they had a perfectly serviceable bed right there - but he leaned his arms against it instead.

Damon refused to think about the fact that he was still in his pants. The only thing he'd done was lower them far enough so they could do this. He ignored the fact that it maybe meant he was treating Rebecca with less respect than she deserved, ignored the fact that he was treating her like was was just some girl. He didn't want to acknowledge that he was taking her up against a wall like he'd done so many times with women in back alleys outside a bar.

_But_ she didn't seem to mind. The noises she made were full of pleasure so he was doing something right. Rebecca's nails dug into his arms and he had to reel himself in just a bit so he wouldn't lose total control. He wouldn't, not with her.

She began rocking against him, and that was all he needed to know she was as ready as she'd ever be. Her lips were covering every inch of skin she could reach. It was like she was trying to devour him with kisses; it spurred him on.

Rebecca was on sensation overload. Between the pain and the pleasure she didn't know which way was up. Just when she was about to complain about being uncomfortable, pleasure would burst through her body and she literally wouldn't be able complain.

Damon was biting her, not enough to break skin, but his teeth were everywhere, marking everything they could reach. She didn't think he knew it; it was probably a subconscious thing. And that didn't hurt. Her being up against the wall limited her movement to a mere grinding motion - Damon seemed to like that he was in control of this because of his earlier incident with Alaric - and her back slammed into the wall a few times, but not enough to hurt. What was hurting, however, was Damon's belt buckle - it dug into the underside of her thigh every time they moved together. But she was so close she didn't want to say anything, didn't want to stop. What was a little pain to her when she was ready to reach her ultimate high?

Damon pounded into her over and over again but he wanted her to get hers first. He'd always been an unselfish lover, vampire or not. If he was going to take the time to sleep with a woman he was going to make sure they both enjoyed it.

Rebecca came more quickly than she normally did - Damon didn't know why but it was a statistical fact that most women physically enjoyed sex more when it was rough; something about hitting all the right places at all the right times, he guessed - and Damon moved faster than he normally allowed himself to. Rebecca was still human after all, even if she was the Slayer. He allowed himself to use a little of his vampire speed and was gratified when he saw her eyes grow wider with pleasure.

"Oh God!" she moaned. "Keep doing that."

Damon felt himself building and building and then as he felt her walls convulsing around him _again_ - fuck, but she was tighter than ever - he skyrocketed, not even trying to control the vampire need for blood. He slid his fangs into the point where her shoulder met her neck and he _was_ gentle with this. No need for Rebecca to be in anymore pain than necessary; not to mention he didn't want to hit the main vein in her neck - that wouldn't end well.

As he came back to himself he withdrew his fangs and moved them to the bed because he suddenly remembered he had one, and - he was ashamed to say - his legs were shaking.

Rebecca grunted as they hit the bed because somehow their bodies were still connected even though Damon had moved them.

"Hm . . ." She sounded content enough. "Feeling better?"

"Ugh, definitely. I've told you before, sex cures everything." Even a vampire being on edge.

He nuzzled her neck where his mark was and caressed her skin with his tongue. The wound was still bleeding slightly and he didn't want to waste any of the precious elixir. He allowed himself to be tender now because he could, and because he sort of felt like he owed it to her. He withdrew himself from her and estimated how sore she was by the look on her face. She only grimaced a little and then she was fine. She did what she normally did and curled into his side to go to sleep.

He noticed, though, that she had bruises - hand-prints, teeth marks, and the underside of her thigh was cut just a little bit from something. And even though he'd warned her, he still didn't like that he'd done that to her. Well, teeth marks were inevitable really, but . . . the other stuff could've been avoidable. He didn't like that he could _see_ where his hands had squeezed too hard.

"Mm . . ." she sighed, seeming content. "That took my cramps away."

"You were cramping?" Damon asked. "You should've told me that. I could've hurt you."

Rebecca shrugged. "You didn't."

"Hm." She hadn't seen herself yet.

Rebecca got up slowly and went to the bathroom to clean herself off and to place another Tampon where it was supposed to be. She didn't care what Damon said, she hated pads and was going to continue using tampons like she'd always done.

She decided to ignore the bruises she had on her body. Honestly she didn't mind them. They were barely noticeable and they didn't hurt. And no one would be able to see them. There was a few on her hips where he'd been holding her and that was it. And the teeth marks - aside from his actual bite near the end - would fade quickly. They were just slight markings on her skin, they were barely there.

"Hey, you. Come take a shower with me. Or a bath."

She looked back at him through the archway of the bathroom and saw him smiling softly. He was still on the bed but when he looked at her he immediately got up to come to her.

She liked that response.

* * *

During the shower Damon made sure to treat her with as much tenderness as he should've treated her with before. He kissed all the marks on her body, trying to make up for putting them there in the first place.

He had to remove another Tampon to be able to show her his love and once she was wet enough he slid into her gently and smoothly.

He watched her expressions closely throughout the whole love-making session. She wouldn't complain if he hurt her, but he needed to know and watching her was the only way he could tell.

He refused to move any faster until the end, and by then she was begging him to give her her release. They both tumbled over the edge together and Damon had to work extra hard to keep them both upright.

"I love you," he whispered into her ear, his voice shaking. "I love you so much."

He felt her nod against his chest and then when she looked up at him he noticed her eyes were shining.

"I love you too, Damon. You have no idea how much you mean to me."

Damon thought he did, actually, but he wasn't going to start talking about it. He was tired and she seemed worn out and, after the workout he'd given her earlier, she deserved a good night's sleep.

* * *

The next morning Rebecca woke up sore in the "I was thoroughly sexed out" way. She felt Damon twirling her hair around his fingers and she sighed in contentment. The not-on-edge Damon was back.

"Good morning," she said, arching into a stretch.

"_Very_ good morning," Damon corrected, looking at her appreciatively. Most of his marks had faded, which he was glad about. He never wanted to see her like that again. She'd looked used and abused - by him. "I needed that last night."

"I know," she said softly, looking up at him. "That's why I stayed."

Green eyes locked on blue and he had to look away for a moment. Sometimes her eyes held so much emotion that it was painful to look at. He'd _used_ her last night to make himself feel better, less out of control, and yet she was looking up at him with loving, trusting green orbs. He knew he didn't deserve her, but he also knew it didn't matter because she loved him, wanted to be with him.

God, it was scary being loved, but good and exciting and unpredictable, and how had he existed for so long without her?

"Uh-oh. You look like you're having deep and meaningful thoughts." Rebecca trailed her fingers up and down his chest and kissed his pec. "It . . . bothers you that you didn't kill Ric last night."

"No. It bothered me last night that I didn't kill Ric _last night_. I'm over it now."

"Oh. Well . . . Good. And don't get mad, because I'm just trying to understand, but . . . why?"

"Why?"

"Does it bother you," she specified. "Why does it bother you?"

Damon looked into her earnest emerald eyes and debated whether to tell her or not. Then he remembered that she was willing to turn into a vampire if he wanted her to so she could be with him forever, and so she deserved the truth.

"Vampires kill, Rebecca, it's what they do. Because they're angry or hungry and sometimes because they're bored. Vampires, by nature, are predators; we hunt things. Animals, people, whatever. And so when Ric came here looking for a fight . . . it was against my nature to _not_ kill him."

"So . . . do vampires hunt out of necessity or because they like it?"

"There's a thrill to it," Damon admitted. "And after the hunt, when you actually feed, there's a high that comes with it. Makes you want it even more."

"Oh. So it's like an addiction, only you actually do need it, you don't just think you do."

Rebecca was almost sorry that she seemed to be domesticating the hell out of Damon. He hadn't killed anybody since the young man outside the Grill the night he'd framed Lexi - Rebecca still felt a small pang whenever she thought of the blond vampire. She was glad he wasn't killing people; she just hoped it didn't get him killed because he hesitated at the wrong time or with the wrong person.

"It gets easier as you get older, and it all depends on your emotional state, how well you can control your emotions. It's easier to snap when you're a vampire. Anger turns to rage in a heartbeat if you're not careful."

"Have you ever felt like snapping with me?" she asked cautiously.

Damon chuckled. "You're infuriating sometimes, but you've never pissed me off, no. When I'm angry at you it's usually fleeting. Besides, I think you're smart enough not to push. You have a tendency to be stubborn but I can't fault you for that."

"You better not, because you are even more stubborn than I am."

Things were comfortably silent for a few minutes, and Rebecca had just about dozed off again when Damon decided to speak.

"I didn't _kill_ Isobel," he said. "Per se."

"She's alive?" Rebecca lifted her head. "Or a vampire?"

"She wanted to be a vampire. I don't know who sent her to me, but it was her choice. It was what she wanted."

"Oh. So you didn't know her before that?"

"Nope."

Damon did not tell Rebecca that he'd slept with Isobel because it wasn't like they had been together at the time. It had been before Rebecca had even been in the picture, before Damon had come for her. It probably wouldn't matter to her, so there was no point in bringing it up.

* * *

Okay, so . . . here's the next update. I was a little squeamish during the sex scene because I don't particularly think you should have sex if you're bleeding, but . . . it fit the situation I guess. I know a lot of people who it doesn't bother, so . . . hope you enjoyed.


	42. Chapter 37

Chapter Thirty-Seven

The funeral for Bonnie's Grams was brutal and not just because it was a funeral. Bonnie had _tried_ to do the eulogy but hadn't been able to stay calm enough and her dad had had to finish it for her. _Everyone_ knew the rumors about Sheila Bennett being a witch but most everyone also thought they were just rumors. She was the kooky lady who taught Occult at the university.

Bonnie hadn't wanted to talk about Grams being a witch - it was supposed to be kept secret. Bonnie talked about how she was always willing to help the people she cared about, how when Sheila had been younger she'd had anti-war set-ins during the Vietnam War.

Elena and Rebecca had been there, sitting together, and Caroline had been waiting for Bonnie when the witch couldn't speak anymore. Bonnie avoided looking at Elena and Rebecca, and Rebecca felt hurt by it but she knew Bonnie needed time to deal with whatever if was she was going through - and Bonnie was making it clear she wanted to do it alone.

Bonnie left town the same day and she didn't say bye. Rebecca had to learn from Caroline where Bonnie was even going. Bonnie was visiting her aunt in a nearby town; apparently Bonnie didn't want anything to do with Mystic Falls, period, not just the people there.

* * *

Rebecca had been given the gift of a nice, normal day - or at least a nice, peaceful day - and she took advantage of it before somebody could take it away. She was with Elena and Caroline, heading to the Grill. Saturday nights were Karaoke night. They used to go all the time before all the vampire stuff had begun to happen. It was only the girls singing - all the guys had refused - Matt, Tyler, Jeremy, Stefan _and_ Damon. They'd decided to watch, but they would not perform.

The girls were getting there early so they could have dinner first, and the sun was glaring through Elena's car window right into Rebecca's eyes.

"Oh, bright light," she said, turning her head away.

"What, are you Gizmo all of a sudden?" Elena asked. "You gonna produce Gremlins if you get wet?"

"God, I hope not," Caroline said, smiling. "And suck it up. It's a fun day. You remember fun days, don't you? It's like half the time you guys forget to even _have_ fun."

"We have tons of fun," Rebecca said. "Or at least _I_ do. All the time."

"When?" the blond asked with a faux innocent smile.

"All the time," she replied, her brows knitting together. Of course, her fun usually led to the less fun thing that was killing vampires, but that counted, right?

Rebecca smiled weakly at Caroline before closing her eyes and leaning her head back against the seat.

"Well," Caroline began. "What's important is that we're going to have fun tonight. You deserve a day off, Becca."

Rebecca froze because . . . Caroline didn't know about vampires or Rebecca's duty as Vampire Slayer. "What?"

"Well, training, of course. The self defense you said you've been taking."

"Oh." Rebecca relaxed. "Well, yeah, I do, don't I?"

Rebecca had developed a work ethic - she devoted at least four hours to studying or training everyday. It was exhausting. Exhausting and impossible if Damon was around because he refused to let her study for long. The training wasn't a problem because she still went to Diana's for that, and she was sure if she asked Damon he'd help her with _that_ too.

Rebecca was working with weapons now, like the crossbow - Rebecca preferred hand-to-hand over weapons, but she went along with it because she had once thought that fighting in the dark was pointless, but she had ended up needing that - maybe Diana knew what she was doing after all.

_Whatever. Focus_.

She shook herself out of it and resolved to enjoy this day and not focus on the darker elements of her life - well, aside from Damon. She needed this. They all did, but she and Elena the most. They didn't get enough days like this. Rebecca just wished that Bonnie was with them.

* * *

At the Grill Caroline went to get the drinks, and Elena told Rebecca that she'd gotten in touch with Isobel, sort of. She'd heard Isobel's voice, anyway.

"How'd you do that?" Rebecca asked.

"There was an . . . accident outside the Grill the night of the bachelor raffle. Some guy under compulsion stepped in front of a truck - the guy I saw outside of Trudie's. I took his phone, checked the recent calls and dialed the number. When she heard my voice . . . she hung up. Before the man was killed, he told me I should stop looking. I just . . . wanted you to know, so we'll be on the same page."

Then Caroline returned and they had to return to idle chitchat. The guys wouldn't get there until after dinner; they just wanted to see the girls make fools of themselves. It was relaxing, but that was the point of the whole thing; to relax.

When the time came, it seemed everybody and their cousin was at the Grill. Even Jenna and Ric were there, though Sheriff Forbes and Carol and Mayor Lockwood hadn't made an appearance.

The girls went in a circle. Rebecca picked for Caroline, Caroline picked for Elena, and Elena picked for Rebecca. They never picked their own song; it was more fun to be surprised. Sometimes they got a song they didn't know and would totally mess up. But it was all in good fun.

First up was Caroline with _Barbie Girl_. Caroline looked at Rebecca with a playful glare on her face. "Really? That's not even funny."

"Oh, yes it is."

"You've gotta admire the purity of it," Stefan said.

The group had pulled up three tables and was huddled together. Elena was with Stefan, away from Damon - she was still touchy about the Isobel thing, understandably, and wanted nothing to do with the dark haired vampire.

Speaking of Damon, he looked uncomfortable there with them. It was subtle, and if Rebecca hadn't known him so well she wouldn't have known. She knew it was because he'd spent so long not being included that it was hard for him to adjust to being in a group atmosphere.

She grabbed his knee under the table and gave him a reassuring smile, and he surprised her by grabbing her hand and keeping it in his.

As always, Damon tried not to feel the relief of her understanding him so easily without him having to say a thing, but he felt it anyway.

Caroline had picked _Hit Me With Your Best Shot_ for Elena, which Rebecca found ironic since everything seemed to hit Elena all at once and the brunette was still standing.

Then Elena picked _The Warrior_ for Rebecca. Everyone that knew her secret had to admire the purity of _that_ too. For Elena and, to a certain extent, even Stefan, it was the perfect song for Rebecca and Damon. With lines like _Stay with me, we'll take the night as passion takes another bite. Oh, who's the hunter, who's the game?_ and _I don't wanna tame your animal style. You won't be caged from the call of the wild _she could say the song was something she could've written herself.

She moved with the music automatically. Whenever she heard music her body had to move; it was like something engrained in her.

When she was done she went back to her spot next to Damon. Elena had said something about wanting to get back to normal things like school and homework and fun. Rebecca was tempted to tell Elena that she would never have a normal life as long as she was dating a vampire. So Elena either needed to accept it or let Stefan go, stop making herself miserable. But she could never be truly happy with Stefan unless Elena gave up normalcy.

Caroline and Matt were trying to make plans to watch a movie, but Caroline refused to go to his place because of his mom. Rebecca got that because Kelly Donovan had been a bitch to Caroline.

"You know, you don't really help the situation," Matt said. "You could at least try to be nice."

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's hard for me to show kindness to people that hate me. I'm not that evolved."

"What're you talking about?" Rebecca asked. "Kelly is in the wrong here, not you." She looked at Matt. "Sorry, but it's true."

Rebecca stood up again and shook her head. "I have to pee."

"Advertise, why don't you?" Damon quipped.

"I did," she quipped back.

On the way to the bathroom she saw Anna and Pearl came into the Grill and she stopped, wondering why they were still in Mystic Falls. Hadn't Anna gotten what she wanted already?

She went right up to them because she wasn't one for beating around the bush. "I didn't know you guys were staying," she said bluntly.

"We weren't going to," Anna said. "But Mom wants to start a business."

"Hm." Rebecca smiled softly. "An apothecary?"

"You remember," Pearl said. "Good. Anna told me about you helping her to free me from the tomb. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Really. I never had a problem with you, Pearl. For what it's worth, I hope you can be happy now. Both of you."

Pearl looked surprised. "Anna told me about you compassion for us. I didn't believe it until now. Maybe we can . . . coexist peacefully?"

"I hope so," Rebecca replied sincerely.

Rebecca saw Damon watching her surreptitiously and smiled to let him know everything was okay. Through all the noise from the people singing she didn't know if he could hear what they were saying.

"So he came back for you, I see," Pearl said.

"He did," Rebecca answered. "Did you doubt that he would after he found out the truth?"

"No."

Damon's eyes were on Rebecca and he watched as she smiled shyly and pushed her long honey blond hair behind her ears. He sent a charming lopsided smile her way and then pretended to pay attention to the conversations going on around him.

He didn't understand how Stefan and Elena could act like . . . like everything was normal. Things were so far from normal that even _he_ couldn't grasp it sometimes. And here he was just . . . hanging out. How weird was that? And with the most unlikely group of people. _Stefan_, for one. Elena, Blondie, Matt, Tyler and Jeremy. He knew Rebecca didn't really care about Tyler . . . though Tyler kept looking at Rebecca like he wanted to eat her - but the rest of the group had accepted Damon for the simple fact that he was with Rebecca. Because he was with Rebecca . . . he felt like he could belong somewhere now. He could have a home now.

* * *

The group left the Grill around ten that night and Rebecca got a ride home from Damon. He even opened the door for her. He could be a gentleman when he wanted to be.

"See, chivalry isn't dead," he stated. "Just anemic."

When they were both inside the car she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you . . . for putting up with everyone tonight. I know you don't like Caroline or Tyler. And I'm surprised that Ric behaved."

"I'm not. I gave him a pass because of the fact that I turned his wife; he was looking for answers. I warned him that if he tried anything again I would kill him."

"That's fair," Rebecca said, because, coming from Damon, it really was. And he _did_ have to defend himself; she didn't expect him to just let himself be killed just because he was a vampire and Ric was human.

"And as for the first thing . . . It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. And I still like to hear you sing."

She smiled and leaned back in the seat. Damon could tell she was tired. Rebecca had needed this night - she was not opposed to having fun as long as her job as the Slayer wasn't laid aside and forgotten. It was a hell of a responsibility being the _One_, the Chosen, and lesser people than Rebecca would've broken under the pressure. But she was steadier than most. She didn't freak out from the crisis itself; she waited for the fallout - if there was any, because sometimes things did work out for the best. Time traveling spell, anyone?

The radio was playing softly and things were comfortably silent between the two. That was one of the things he liked about being with Rebecca - they could be around each other and not feel like they needed to fill the silence with useless words.

When he pulled up to Rebecca's house everything was dark. There weren't any lights on and her dad's car wasn't in the driveway.

"Your dad planned on going somewhere tonight?" he asked, though when he saw Rebecca's concerned expression he could tell her dad hadn't.

"That's odd. Ever since Tina found out about me she's always waited up for me to get home."

She got out of the car and he get out after. They both went to the front door. She went to unlock it, but it was already unlocked.

"Uh . . ."

"Stay here," Damon said. "I'll be back in a second."

"Yeah," she agreed. "Be careful. And don't kill anybody in my house."

He watched her lean against the porch railings and cross her arms over her chest, and then he stepped over the threshold of the Stone household. He didn't hear as much as a heartbeat in the house, so he knew no one alive was there.

No one was in the house, period, but there was a message left on the answering machine_._

_Becca, it's your dad. I didn't want to ruin your night so I didn't call your cell. When you get this come to the hospital. There's been . . . some complications._

"Complications?" Damon repeated. "Great."

He went back out to Rebecca and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her back to the car. Reverting back to cavemen days, he guessed. And he'd thought he'd grown out of that.

"Uh, hey!" Rebecca followed willingly enough, Damon noted. "Where're we going? What was in there?"

"Nothing was in there." He told her about the message, though. "That was how he described it: Complications."

"Tina," she whispered, settling into the passenger seat. "The baby. Or . . . Chelsea?"

"I'm sure it's nothing bad-bad or your dad would've called."

Rebecca nodded, hoping he was right. She called Elena and Caroline but told them they didn't have to come if they didn't want to. She would keep them informed.

* * *

Despite Rebecca's protestations, Elena, Caroline, and even Jeremy were at the hospital when she and Damon arrived. They asked the assistant at the front desk where to go and were told that Tina was still in the ER - the hospital was getting a room ready for her. So she was being admitted.

At the ER one of the nurses went back to get her dad and the group sat down to wait. Rebecca bit her lip, wondering what had happened to make her aunt need to be hospitalized. Tina had seemed fine before Rebecca had left the house earlier. Her good vibes from the fun day had vanished and now all she felt was anxiety - a horrible feeling she'd gotten used to since she'd become the Slayer.

Her dad came out of the double doors of the ER and she stood up quickly. Chelsea was with him - because he'd had no other choice than to bring her, probably - and as soon as the girl saw Rebecca she reached out her arms to show who she really wanted to be holding her.

"What happened?" Rebecca asked, taking the girl from her father's arms.

"Tina fainted in the kitchen."

"She . . . Why?"

"The doctors say it's exhaustion, but they're keeping her here for a few days for observation. Uh, the baby's okay. They're keeping an eye on that, too, given her sister's history."

"Exhaustion from what?"

"She needs to rest; that's all they said."

"Oh." Rebecca realized that Tina hadn't had any problems until she'd found out about vampires and Rebecca's Slayer business. She hoped that didn't have anything to do with it. She couldn't control that and it would only stress her and Tina out further if that _was_ the reason. "She's awake, right? They couldn't sedate her because she's pregnant?"

"She's awake." Robert gestured to the double doors and she nodded. "Come on."

She looked back at her friends and they all made it clear that they would wait for her to come back. She looked at Damon and then at Chelsea; in silent agreement, he took Chelsea from Rebecca. So she followed Robert and tried not to look at all the people there that were hurt or sick.

"Did she hurt herself?" she asked.

"No. I was there; I caught her."

"Well, thank God for that."

Rebecca was idly thinking about all the strange things the doctors must see in Mystic Falls in the ER when she reached her aunt.

"Hey, Becca," Tina said, smiling weakly. "Sorry to scare you when it's really nothing."

"If it were nothing, they wouldn't be keeping you here," Rebecca countered gently. "And don't be sorry. It couldn't be helped." She grabbed her aunt's hand and squeezed. "The doctor says you need to rest."

"I know. You're a good girl, Becca. You're going to be a great cousin."

Rebecca smiled at the prediction. "I hope so."

She stayed with her aunt until the hospital staff came to move her to a room and then Rebecca went back to the ER waiting room where she told everyone what had happened.

Stefan had appeared - Elena had called him - and he was genuinely concerned. She was grateful for the extra support even though nothing was seriously wrong.

Chelsea was already asleep, and in Damon's arms. Rebecca thought it was the most adorable thing ever but she was _not_ going to say anything. He'd stop if anyone mentioned it. Jeremy didn't say anything and neither did Elena or Stefan. And Caroline didn't _say_ anything, but she did look at Damon like she didn't know him.

"I'm going to wait until she's settled in and then I'm going to ask her what she wants me to do. I'll stay if she wants me to."

Caroline hugged her, and Rebecca smiled against the blonde's shoulder.

"I'm glad she's okay," she said, and Rebecca was struck by how different Caroline had become since she'd decided to be with Matt. Caroline was genuine and not as obnoxious.

"Me too, Care."

Elena was next, and she had the same sentiment as Caroline. Stefan said something along the same lines but didn't invade her personal space by attempting to hug her - which was best for his health, really.

Elena and Stefan stayed with Damon and Rebecca but Caroline left because she had plans with Matt the next day and needed her beauty rest. Jeremy stayed because Elena stayed and she was his ride.

Once they went to her aunt's room they were all allowed in as long as they didn't upset her. She introduced Stefan since her aunt had never met him; neither had her dad, for that matter.

"How come you've never been around with Damon?" Robert asked.

"Uh . . ." Stefan looked decidedly uncomfortable.

"He's always with Elena," Rebecca said, coming to his rescue. "They're in the honeymoon phase. They can't get enough of each other."

"Becca!" Elena exclaimed, embarrassed, a slight flush filling her cheeks.

"What? It's true."

Rebecca smiled widely, the first sign of relief since she'd arrived at her house earlier to find no one there, and Damon felt his own body loosen up. He'd been filled with unease and dread since he'd heard the message - for Rebecca, not for himself - and now those two feelings faded into nothing, only this wasn't because of any damn vampire switch; it was genuine.

"Well, after the dust settles, we should all have dinner at the house," Robert said. "We'll set a date once Tina gets out and back on her feet."

Rebecca almost groaned because she didn't want to invite Stefan into her house, especially since she'd read about Stefan's spontaneous killing sprees. But she couldn't say anything without causing suspicion.

"Okay, so . . . I wanted to see what you wanted me to do," Rebecca said to her aunt.

"Do you want to stay?"

"I don't want you to be alone," Rebecca said.

"I was gonna stay with her," Robert said. "I'm off tomorrow but you'll need to be free Monday, at least until I get off from work."

She looked at her aunt, and Tina said she should get some sleep. "But I don't want you alone in the house," Tina made clear.

"Agreed," Robert said.

When Tina looked at Damon all she said was, "You'll keep her safe?"

Things were silent for a moment and Damon processed the fact that Tina trusted him with her niece's life. Not that she shouldn't, because Damon would willingly lay his life on the line for Rebecca, but the fact that it was so obvious bothered him. When had he become so transparent?

"You want him to stay at the house with her, alone?" Rebecca's father asked. "Bad idea, Tina."

"Oh, whatever. He's spent the night before - you know it, I know it. And she is almost eighteen. Leave them be, Robert."

Rebecca blushed furiously and stared at the ground. Elena, Jeremy, and Stefan backed out of the room and Damon was unnaturally silent. No witty comment in sight. She wasn't sure if he was just acting, but he looked like a little kid that had gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"You're free to use the front door from now on, Damon," Tina said, smiling softly at the dark haired vampire, and Rebecca's head shot up.

Was her aunt insane? Or was she even being serious? She'd known Tina approved of Damon - because she didn't know what he was - but . . . she hadn't expected Tina to be so . . . laid back about it or Rebecca would've let her know before now.

"Tina . . ." Robert didn't agree.

"I am in a hospital bed and you will listen to me."

For the life of her, Rebecca thought they were acting like an old married couple. It disturbed her, and, not for the first time, she thought that this baby had to be her fathers. They weren't acting right; they weren't acting like themselves. Rebecca realized she would have to talk to them about it eventually, but she was scared to. She really _didn't_ want to know about her father's or her aunt's sex life.

"Okay, then." Rebecca grabbed onto Damon's arm. "We'll leave you to it."

"No funny business under my roof," Robert said to both Damon and Rebecca. "I mean it."

To be honest, with everything that had happened that night, Rebecca hadn't thought about any 'funny business' so she agreed readily and then kissed her aunt on the cheek and hugged her dad.

"I'll be back tomorrow," she promised. "Love you, guys."

* * *

"Your dad looked like he was about to have a stroke when your aunt mentioned me staying with you," Damon said when they reached her house for the second time that night.

"Yeah." Rebecca giggled. "It's weird that they know, but I'm glad you don't have to sneak around anymore. It's better for everyone."

Damon eyed her intensely. "Maybe. But you have to admit you liked getting away with it." He did the eye thing he was known for and she glared playfully. "Well, you _do_. On some level you like it, or crave it. Or you wouldn't have done it."

"Stop making insights into my life, please. I'm blissfully oblivious without them, thank you. Now, let's go inside. I'm exhausted."

They had gotten the baby seat from her dad's car and Chelsea was sleeping peacefully in it in the back of Damon's car. Rebecca hoped she didn't wake up from being jostled too much.

Once they were settled in her bedroom Rebecca let everything that had happened that night just fade to the back of her mind because everything was okay. Sure, her aunt needed rest, but that was easily remedied.

"You know, I was really scared tonight," she admitted, putting her head on his chest. "More afraid than I've been in a long time."

She'd been scared because pain and sickness and death weren't things she could control, weren't things she could fight. She didn't know what she would've done if her aunt had died and taken the baby along with her.

"And I don't want Stefan in my house," she said, changing the subject to a less morbid one. "I know about his little slip-ups, his little decade long benders. I don't want him in here."

Damon, who had been playing with her hair, stopped moving completely. How did she know about Stefan's occasional blood haze days; it wasn't exactly public knowledge.

"He's in the books Diana let me borrow. I specifically asked for books starting after 1864. She thinks it's because I live here and this town has an interesting background. I kept them . . . just in case. I'm not giving those back."

"Covering all your bases, huh?" Damon asked lightly.

"Something like that. It surprised me that he never learned to control it."

"Why do you think he's on puppy blood? He can't feed without killing. Then he feels remorse and then that just leads to more killing. The more blood he gets the more he wants."

"Oh. That must feel awful."

Rebecca sincerely hoped she wouldn't be that way when she was turned. Or . . . If, depending on what Damon decided. She was fairly certain he was just waiting for her to get a little older. She was only seventeen and he'd been around twenty-three when he'd been turned, so they could wait.

"Damon?"

"Hm?"

"If . . . if you turn me -" she was treading carefully because she knew how he felt about her turning right that second - " I don't want to be like that. So you have to promise to teach me how to stop. I know I taught you the theory of it, but . . . I don't want to kill people who don't deserve it. So . . . Promise me."

"You'd drink people blood?" he asked carefully.

"Well, yeah. I'm not gonna turn and then be weaker than everybody else; that's like wearing a "Kick Me" sign on your back."

Damon arched an eyebrow in agreement. "I promise to help you control it if you decide you still want to turn later."

"I'm not going to change my mind," she said. "I mean, I know . . . I know I have a pretty decent life even with the Slayer thing. I have friends - awesome friends - and I love them. And my sister is . . . one of the most precious gifts I could've ever received from my parents. She's gonna need me to be there for her even though my family is actually starting to act like a family. But . . . and this might sound selfish . . . but none of that would matter if I didn't have you. My life wouldn't mean much if you weren't in it."

Damon didn't say anything to that, but she hadn't expected him to. She was always able to make him speechless when she said things like that.

* * *

The next day, when Rebecca reached the hospital she found her aunt's room empty, which scared her a little, but once she'd asked the nurse she found out her aunt and her dad were with a doctor. Tina was having an ultrasound done to check on the baby. She was told she could wait in her aunt's room, so she did.

Alone in the hospital room, Rebecca felt unnerved by all the medical technology. The monitors and the IV rollers and some other stuff she didn't know the names of . . . It was all foreign to her. She opened the blinds so the room wouldn't be gloomy and then sat in one of the chairs to wait.

Damon had opted out of staying all day with her since Tina was okay - there was no support needed there. There wasn't anything she couldn't handle on her own. And Rebecca had left a speechless Damon at her house to watch out for her sister.

She'd called Liz before coming to the hospital to tell her she needed a few days off and Liz understood. Then Rebecca had called to fill in Diana - they were getting along better now that Diana wasn't trying to dictate her life.

Rebecca jumped when she heard the sound of glass breaking come from the hallway and laughed at herself. Sometimes she got lost in her own head and it took something like that to bring her out of it, bring her back to herself.

Then the screaming began. Rebecca looked to the door and then looked around the room for a weapon. _Then_ she checked herself because . . . this was a hospital. Just because someone was screaming didn't mean there was danger. It just meant someone was either in pain or someone had lost someone else. People screamed about things like that all the time, right?

But then there was pandemonium in the hallway. Orderlies were running everywhere. Rebecca had to find out what was going on even though part of her wanted to stay in the room. She peeked outside and saw a young girl, maybe around thirteen, holding a piece of glass in her hand, brandishing it like a knife. People were trying to calm her down, but it wasn't working. One of the orderlies had sneaked up behind the girl and almost had her but she spun around quickly enough to fend him off.

Rebecca swore under her breath. The girl's neck had blood on it; it looked like she'd been ravaged. And now the girl was freaking out and causing herself more damage, for Rebecca could see the glass was cutting into the girl's hand. She had a hospital gown on that was tied to not show anything and Rebecca assumed the girl had been admitted without her knowing about it and had woken up here.

Rebecca wondered if she could help. She could easily restrain the child and hopefully keep anyone from getting hurt. She passed by a male patient who was clad only in underwear and motioned for him to go back in his room; he didn't listen.

The closer Rebecca got to the girl the more she could tell the girl was acting like a frightened animal, ready to lash out at the first sign of trouble. Someone was going to get hurt if they weren't careful.

"Everybody stop!" Rebecca shouted.

Everyone _did_ stop, surprisingly, and they looked at her. She guessed her voice had held a note of authority or something. Even the girl looked at her. Since Rebecca had helped calm her down, the orderlies let her step forward. She very cautiously knelt down in front of the girl and placed her hand over the glass.

"You don't need that. Just put it down. No one's gonna hurt you."

The girl's eyes were a soft brown, her hair a golden blond. She was trembling from fear or, at the very least, from feeling trapped. And . . . Rebecca recognized her. She could tell the girl could recognize her too, a little.

"Where am I?" the girl asked.

"You're at the hospital in Mystic Falls, Virginia," Rebecca said. "You've come back home. Now please put the very sharp weapon down. You don't want to hurt the nice girl that's trying to help you."

The girl's eyes flickered around wildly and suspiciously at the hospital staff. The hospital staff that had needles in their hands. Sedatives, maybe.

"Put those down," Rebecca ordered. "She's scared."

The girl let Rebecca take the glass from her, which Rebecca found encouraging except for the fact that the girl's hand began healing automatically. Rebecca checked the child's neck, and sure enough . . . the blood was still there but the wound was gone . . . or hadn't been there at all - Rebecca hadn't been close enough to see before.

_Uh-oh_, she thought. This girl wasn't a vampire but she was in transition. Someone had turned a little girl and said girl obviously didn't have a clue what was going on. Rebecca felt her throat tighten. Who would do this to someone so . . . young? She hadn't even been through puberty yet.

"Sarah?" Rebecca said. "Do you . . . remember me?

"Becca?" Sarah said uncertainly. "Rebecca Stone?"

"Yeah, hi."

Rebecca was glad that Sarah remembered her. It had been almost two years since they'd seen each other, but they'd gotten along before. Then Sarah and her family had moved.

"Why aren't you in your room?"

"Because I don't want to be in my room."

Rebecca arched a brow at the simple answer.

"She woke up screaming," one of the nurses said helpfully. "When we went in she'd ripped her IV line out and her neck was bleeding again."

"Again?"

"She was found last night, barely alive, right outside."

Ah. And she'd obviously died overnight and had had vampire blood in her system. If Sarah had been ravaged then they would've had to have stitched her neck to help it heal but then, when the vampire blood had kicked in, the stitches would have been an annoyance.

"Animal attack?" Rebecca asked, because she knew that was what the town would say.

"Yeah."

Rebecca shook her head and glanced back at Sarah. "You're not gonna hurt these people, are you?"

"No. I just woke up and didn't know where I was and then I didn't know them when they came in. I wanted to run."

Of course she had. Rebecca would've been scared too had she woken up not knowing where she was.

"Okay, well, let's go back in your room, okay? You'll be safe there. I promise."

_God, I need help_, Rebecca thought.

* * *

Meanwhile, Damon had just gotten back to the boardinghouse to find Pearl and Anna in his living room. He had two other vampires in his living room and he had a little girl in his arms. This wasn't going to end well.

_Jeez, what now_? he asked himself.

"How'd you get in here?" he asked.

"An invitation wasn't necessary," Pearl said. "I'm surprised that no living person resides here. Is it just you and your brother? No Rebecca?"

Damon shrugged nonchalantly, placing Chelsea on the carpet beside him. She was able to stand now as long as she had something to hold onto. She chose his leg to steady herself.

"Yeah. How do you keep out unwelcome vampires?" Anna asked curiously.

"Kill them."

He blurred over to Pearl, making Chelsea fall on her diapered behind, and grabbed her by the neck. It was as affective as smothering a forest fire with Napalm; it worked about as well as it had with Anna. Pearl squeezed his wrist and he could hear the bones grinding in his arm - if she'd wanted to, she could've broken his limb.

"Damn," he grunted.

She pretty much threw him on the floor. It was safe to say she'd gotten her strength back, he guessed. And the eleven month old that had wormed her way into his heart was giggling - apparently she found it funny that he'd gotten knocked on his ass.

"Have a seat, Damon," she said calmly. "I was hoping we could have a word."

_Not like I have a choice_.

He pushed himself up onto the couch and said, "Sure."

"We've taken up residence at a farmhouse just outside of town. It'll suffice for now."

"And I care why?"

It was Anna who spoke now. "Because I promised Rebecca I would help if anything went wrong with the spell. It did, and I am." Anna went to Chelsea and picked her up unceremoniously and began playing with her. Damon kept an eye on them.

"The . . . vampires are out of the tomb?" Damon asked. "Wow. And things were going so smoothly."

"Rebecca knew the risks when she agreed to help."

"When you forced her to help," Damon corrected. "All of them are with you?"

"Not all, some," Pearl answered.

As Pearl was speaking Damon was imaging all the many things that could go wrong with this. Vampires nesting together . . . and then it clicked. The hiker that had been killed and had his clothes stolen . . . A vampire from the tomb had probably gotten out and the hiker had been the first person he or she had come across. The vampire would've needed clothes from this time period.

"I imagine some have already left. Others are probably still in the woods or, like us, acclimating. I understand from Anna that the Founding Families still have a secret council."

"And you're a part of it," Anna added.

"Pfft. That's ridiculous," Damon said, smiling mockingly at Anna. He was itching to yank Chelsea away from Anna; it made him very edgy watching Chelsea in Anna's arms. She could do anything to the baby and Damon wouldn't be able to stop it in time.

"I've been in town since the comet, Damon. I'm up to speed."

"And so am I," Pearl said. "And, now that you've infiltrated the council, I'll need to know everything they know. Starting with a list of names of the Council members and their families."

"Everyone you've supplied with vervain," Anna added.

Damon's gaze snapped to the younger vampire. How did she know all this? Usually he was great at covering his tracks but Anna seemed to be one step ahead of him all the time.

"Yes, that will have to stop immediately."

"What exactly are you trying to achieve?" Damon asked, already deciding he didn't want to help.

"Mystic Falls is our home, Damon," Pearl said. "They took that from us. Our land, our home. It's time we rebuild."

He was trying to read between the lines because that couldn't be what she really wanted after all this time.

"What, are you _crazy_? That was 1864. Wake up, woman, the world has moved on." He saw her eyes go cold and her expression harden. "And there's no way in hell I'm gonna play the role of your little minion."

He was just getting ready to show them out when Pearl pushed him back down.

"I'm not _asking_ for you help, Damon. It's nonnegotiable."

The room was filled with Damon's screams - and Chelsea's joined his not long after; oh, God, what was happening to _her_ - as Pearl's thumbs prodded into his eyes. The pain was so intense he couldn't even think of doing anything but fall to his knees when she yanked him up off the couch.

"I have 400 years on you, little boy. I'll rip you from limb to limb without even blinking, and you know it. I'll be in touch."

He couldn't see but he heard them walk away and he grabbed his head, which hurt thanks to the new no-eyes thing he was sporting. He had to go to the basement off of memory alone - there was no way he was healing without more blood in his system. It hurt less now but he still couldn't see anything. And he still wasn't going to play the roll of her minion; he was better than that.

_So much for coexisting peacefully_, he thought, remembering Pearl's words from when she'd been talking to Rebecca at the Grill the night before. Pearl was not going to be happy when she found out he really wasn't going to help her. She was going to be even less happy if Rebecca found out what she'd done because Damon knew that existing peacefully would go out the window if Pearl was going to hurt him every time she turned around just because he wouldn't do what she wanted.

Damon wondered if he should even tell Rebecca. If Rebecca went after Pearl, Pearl would kill her if she had the chance, so . . . No, he probably wouldn't tell.

_Chelsea_, he suddenly remembered. She was crying upstairs and she might've been hurt; he'd been too preoccupied with the thumbs digging into his eyes to notice if she was okay. The girl couldn't see him like this; he would terrify her.

Sunglasses; he could wear sunglasses until his eyes healed completely.

* * *

Okay, so . . . what do you guys think? I hated myself for adding a child vampire, but it's also fascinating to me. She'll be stuck in a heightened state even without the supernatural element because 13 is around about the time the hormones start working overtime. She would've been unstable or at least overly emotional to begin with.


	43. Chapter 38

Okay, this picks up where the last one left off. Sarah was just found at the hospital and Rebecca took it upon herself to help her. Pearl and Anna had visited Damon and it didn't end too well for Damon.

Enjoy!

AN: To Moonfang. I know you reviewed as a guest, so I don't know you're real name. LOL. I'm not rude to people who take the time to read and review. Everyone has a right to their own opinion and I respect yours. That being said, if you're not a fan of the story . . . don't read it. It's as simple as that. I didn't set out to make Rebecca faultless or flawless, and if that's how she appears to you, I'm sorry. The only reason she thinks Stefan is a hypocrite is because he acts like he's never done anything wrong even though he was the bad one in the beginning. In my version Damon didn't kill Vickie. She fell down the stairs and broke her neck accidentally. Rebecca was right to defend Damon because he didn't kill Vickie. Rebecca is not perfect; in fact, one of the faults you say she doesn't have _is_ the fact that she illogically protects Damon and defends him the way she does. She's illogically, insanely, blindly in love with him. She loves him unconditionally. That's why they work so well together.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

At the hospital Rebecca had stayed with Sarah, the thirteen-year old girl who didn't know she could become a vampire. And, as Rebecca asked her questions, it seemed the girl didn't know much of anything at all. She knew her name and her numbers, the alphabet, who was president . . . But nothing really personal. She knew Rebecca, knew that she'd known Rebecca before, but she didn't know how she'd gotten to Mystic Falls.

While questioning Sarah Rebecca got a sudden case of blindness and searing pain around her eyes. No, in her eyes. It felt like . . . like her eyes were being gauged out. Then she saw _why_. Pearl had gone to visit Damon, she wanted something from him. Damon had refused and Pearl had reacted violently.

The only thing that kept Rebecca glued to her seat, kept her from going to Damon because he needed help, was because she saw Pearl leave and she felt Damon getting slowly better. Her headache, however, remained.

"Are you okay?" the girl asked.

Right, there was also Sarah keeping her there.

Sarah was someone Rebecca had known very well once. Chase Carson, Rebecca's ex-boyfriend - abusive ex-boyfriend at that - was Sarah's brother. Rebecca was sort of waiting for him to show up now, and dreading it if he did. Out of everyone in Rebecca's life - ever - Chase had been the only one to ever make her feel like a victim. He was the only one that had ever made her feel like she _had_ to be a victim.

It made Rebecca's head hurt worse just thinking about it, so she stopped. She wouldn't worry anymore about it until something happened. If something happened.

Rebecca checked on her aunt a few times and had been relieved to see she was sleeping, getting the rest she needed. Her dad said the baby was as healthy as could be. Robert was impressed with the fact that Rebecca had taken on the responsibility of helping the little girl down the hall, even if he didn't understand the reasoning behind it.

Rebecca just told him it was because no one should be alone in a hospital. It wasn't good for the healing process. But as the day went by, Sarah became more agitated and Rebecca knew it was because the girl was hungry. She just didn't know how to explain it. Not to someone so young. Rebecca wasn't sure what to do, so she got up, told the little girl she'd be right back, and went outside the hospital. For the first time, she needed Stefan's help instead of Damon's. Stefan could break it to Sarah gently instead of just blurting it out with no thought to how it would affect the girl.

Stefan seemed surprised to hear from her but he listened to her nonetheless. After she was done explaining there was a brief silence on the other end, but then . . .

"A thirteen year old?"

"Yeah," she said softly, placing her hand on her head as another wave of pain went through her. "She doesn't know what's happening to her and I need you to smuggle her out before she hurts somebody."

"I told you my compulsion doesn't work right."

"Try anyway. Please? Worse comes to worst, you can jump her out of a window."

Another silence, but not as long this time. "I'll try. I'm not making any promises."

"Okay." She relaxed. "She's on the same floor as my aunt; just find me and we'll think of something."

She went back inside and a few minutes later Stefan appeared. Rebecca assured Sarah he was a friend and was there to help. Then she asked if Sarah wanted to get out of there. The girl's eyes lit up like the lights on a Christmas tree.

Stefan had had the presence of mind to bring clothes - some of Elena's things since he didn't know any thirteen-year-olds - and Rebecca helped Sarah while Stefan went to persuade Sarah's doctor to release her. The shirt was too big and the pants had to be rolled up several times to even remotely fit but they would do for now.

Stefan came back with the release forms and Rebecca breathed a sigh of relief. They weren't out of the woods yet but she could see the opening. She told the girl to act natural and Sarah did her best. Rebecca went with them mostly to alleviate any fears Sarah had but she only stayed with them until they reached a patch of woods.

Sarah seemed even more agitated now, though she seemed to like not being trapped in a hospital. She kept running her hands over her arms and face.

"Ugh! The sun is killing me," Sarah almost shouted. "What's wrong with me?"

Rebecca looked at Stefan and gestured to Sarah with an "I don't know what to do" shrug. She was unofficially handing Stefan the reigns on this one - for now anyway.

"I'll explain everything," Stefan promised. "But you're gonna have to come with me, okay?"

Stefan took his jacket off and handed it to Sarah, who slipped it over her shoulders and was surprised when the burning sensation from the sun went away.

"Better?" Rebecca asked cautiously.

"Yeah. Weird. I'm hungry."

"Uh . . . We'll get to that in a minute," Stefan said. "How do you like speed?"

"You mean, like, in cars?"

"Something like that."

Stefan held his hands out so he could pick Sarah up, but she backed away into Rebecca and glared at the brown haired vampire.

"You're not one of those guys who attack little girls, are you?"

"Sarah? If I thought he would hurt you I wouldn't let him have you," Rebecca stated, turning the girl around to face her. "I promised to keep you safe, didn't I? I keep my promises, Sarah. You know that. Or you used to."

"You'll come with me?" Sarah asked.

"I, uh . . ."

_Crap_. She needed to be here for her aunt, but this little girl needed her. And . . . her aunt was asleep, so . . .

"I'll be there shortly. I have to get my car . . . Or, well, my dad's car, and I can't leave without making up an excuse."

"See you at the house?" Stefan asked.

Rebecca nodded distractedly and headed back the way she'd come. Things were good now. She just hoped Damon wouldn't overreact.

* * *

At the boardinghouse Damon was still in the basement nursing his wounds and planning how to kill Pearl - he wanted it to be as painful as possible. She'd taken his eyes! Granted, he healed quickly enough, but his eyes were still sensitive, damn it!

He'd gone to get the shrieking Chelsea from upstairs and had found that the living room was too bright for his healing eyes and that was why he was back in the basement. He'd wondered if he should be careful about the drinking blood thing around Chelsea since she wouldn't know not to say anything about it but he needed the blood.

She had grabbed for the bag a few times and at first he hadn't said anything but then he'd told her it wasn't for her - because, really, it was _not_ a juice bag - and she'd stopped quickly enough. He was surprised. He shouldn't have been, he realized, because Rebecca would have taught Chelsea to listen as soon as she'd been able to comprehend the idea of listening.

Damon heard his brother come in upstairs but didn't move at all. Not until he heard a semi-excited voice. Then he didn't hesitate to move. The voice was young and female and _what the hell_? He picked Chelsea up and raced upstairs, smiling when he heard Chelsea squeal in delight.

"Stefan?"

Damon stopped in front of his brother, who was holding a little prepubescent girl. Blond hair, brown eyes, and, again, prepubescent.

"Uh . . ." For once he was speechless.

"Don't ask, just help me."

"Help you what? Are you kidnapping people now?"

"No - just help me set up a room for her. She's gonna have to stay here for a while."

"Why?"

"I'm hungry," the girl said to Stefan. "I want something to eat."

"I know, let's just set you up a room first."

Damon followed Stefan and the girl upstairs, Chelsea in Damon's arms, where the girl was put to bed, and then outside the room he grabbed Stefan's arm.

"What the hell? Why is she here?"

"She's in transition, Damon. She doesn't know what's happening."

Damon glanced in the direction of the girl's room. Transition, her? A little girl? She'd be a little girl forever if she changed. Even _he_ hadn't done anything that cruel to anyone.

"She's prepubescent!" he said emphatically. "What are we going to do with a prepubescent almost-vampire?"

"A what?" came a shriek from inside the room. Then the door was jerked open. "I'm a what?"

Stefan glared at him. "Nice work, Damon."

Damon shrugged because, hey, at least the girl knew what was going on now. For the first time, Damon realized the girl was wearing some of Elena's clothing. They were huge on her. She hadn't even had the chance to fill out the way a girl was supposed to. With a jolt of unbidden sympathy Damon realized she never would. Whether the young girl turned or not she would never be a woman.

"He didn't really mean that," the girl said. "Did he?"

"Uh . . ." Stefan didn't answer.

"Oh, a lot of help you are," Damon quipped, and then looked at the girl. "What's your name?"

"Sarah . . ." she said, glancing at Damon with distrust.

"Well, Sarah . . . Is your throat burning? The sunlight hurt your skin? Your body ache like you have a bad case of the flu?"

"Damon . . ." Stefan said, trying to warn him to back off because they were dealing with a child.

"Shut up, Stefan. She needs to know."

"This is not the way to tell her. If Rebecca had wanted her to find out like this she would've called you instead of me."

Damon knew - _knew_ - Stefan was just saying that to get a rise out of him, just to take a dig at him, but it worked anyway. It worked because it stung a little that Rebecca hadn't called him with this. Granted, he wouldn't have been able to help because not even ten minutes ago he'd barely been able to see, but . . . it was the principle of the thing. And Stefan was _Stefan_; Rebecca should've called Damon first and not his brother. So, yeah, he decided to let it bother him.

"Hello," Sarah said, and Damon heard the slight hysteria in her voice. "Can we focus on my problem, please? How am I a vampire? _Why_ am I a vampire? Vampires are . . . They're not supposed to exist. And more importantly . . . How do you know they exist? Are you gonna hurt me just because I am one? And, hey, I'm still hungry!"

_Holy hell, does she ever shut up_? Damon wondered. And he'd thought Caroline was a chatterbox. Jeez. He knew it was because she was freaking out, but couldn't she do it silently?

A look came over Sarah's face. Her eyes dulled a bit and she gasped. "Only I'm not hungry, am I? If I'm . . . If what you say is true, then it's not food I want. I want blood . . . Don't I?"

Sarah made a face and turned to go back in her room and shut the door. Damon heard as she went to the bed and started sobbing. The sounds were heart wrenching even for him. He hated seeing or hearing people crying - unless, of course, his intention was to make someone cry - because it made him remember that he cared a lot more than he liked to admit.

"What now?" Stefan asked. "Since you broke it to her so eloquently."

"No other way to do it and you know it. Now get out of here. I'll . . . take care of it. And take Chelsea with you."

"Well, you're not gonna kill her . . ."

"Nobody's killing anybody. I'm just gonna talk to her."

"Yeah, 'cause that worked so well last time." Stefan rolled his eyes. "Rebecca will be here shortly, so whatever you're gonna do, do it fast. And be careful. She didn't like being pressured at the hospital, she became violent."

Stefan took Chelsea in his arms and Damon watched his brother go downstairs. He was surprised there hadn't been any further argument, but whatever, it made his job easier. He went inside the room and saw the girl - he called her "the girl" because if he used her name it became too personal - curled up on the bed, knees drawn up to her chest.

He stayed by the door more for her sake than his, to give her the distance he expected she needed. From what Rebecca had told Stefan, Sarah didn't like feeling trapped.

"You don't have to turn. If you don't feed on human blood you won't turn."

The girl took a pause in the sobbing and looked at him with watery, red-rimmed eyes. "But I'll die, right? It's not like I'll just go back to the way I was. Right?"

"No. If you don't feed, then you'll die."

The girl sat up and wiped the wetness from her cheeks. "You mean I have to kill someone or I'll die?"

"You don't have to kill anybody. We have blood bags - full of human goodness."

The girl - alright, Sarah - scrunched her nose up and shook her head. "This is _too_ weird."

Sarah's movements were shaky and even jerky. Damon knew she had only maybe a few hours left, but he wasn't about to tell her that.

"If I'm a vampire . . . does that mean I'm evil?"

Wow, such deep questions for a young girl.

"I think you can make out of it whatever you want."

"Are you evil?" she asked in the innocent way only a child could.

"Well . . ." That was a loaded question. "I'm not _good_, but I'm okay. Things aren't so black and white when you're a vampire. There's this whole gray area that would take way too long to explain right now."

Sarah was quiet for a whole minute and he thought maybe she just didn't want to talk anymore, but then . . . "May I see?"

"What?"

"Well," the girl was shy all of a sudden. "I know vampires are strong and obviously fast, but may I see?"

"It's not like in movies," Damon warned. "It's a lot more grotesque, and I don't sparkle."

"Darn," Sarah said softly, but smiled a little too. "Okay."

He moved forward and sat on the bed beside her and then he took a deep breath. He felt his canines elongate and the skin under his eyes tighten and he knew that now Sarah was seeing the vampire part of him.

Because she'd been warned Sarah didn't flinch or give any negative reaction. All she said was, "Hm."

Sarah brought her hand up, but right before she made contact she drew her hand back and asked for permission to touch him. Damon didn't care, of course, though he was a little suspicious of the fact that she wasn't scared. Her fingers ghosted over the veins he knew were protruding, and it kind of tickled but he let her continue.

"Thank you for being honest with me," she said, dropping her hand down to her side. "I appreciate it."

His vampire appearance faded back to human and he shrugged, pretending that the fact that she wasn't scared of him didn't affect him at all.

"Do all vampires do that?"

"When they feed. Or like that if you can control it. Or if your emotions are out of whack."

"Hm."

Damon, who had been caught up in doing the semi-nice guy thing, suddenly became aware of Rebecca's heartbeat at the doorway. She was looking at him with a small smile. He noticed that she was pale, like something had happened to her, and the small smile was actually a small grimace.

"Wow. If I had know you could handle this so well I would've called you instead." She gave him a knowing glance and shook her head. "I didn't know you still knew what finesse was, but . . ."

"I think I was around when it was created," he quipped, choosing to not be bothered anymore over the lack of a phone call because he realized it was stupid.

"Right." Rebecca focused on the girl. "Uh . . . do you know what you wanna do?"

"I know I don't wanna die," Sarah said softly, sadly.

Rebecca's throat tightened and she couldn't breathe for a second because, while she didn't want the girl to die either, everything about this felt not right. As if their lives didn't have enough mystery in them, here the little girl was adding another one. Many more another ones, actually.

Rebecca's life . . . Man, she couldn't get a break. She couldn't catch her breath from one problem before another one hit.

"Wait here, we'll get you something to drink," Damon said. His expression was clear; he wanted to talk to Rebecca without the child around.

Damon stood up from the bed and, with one glance back at the girl, he walked out and Rebecca followed him. He put a finger to his lips and gestured to the girl's room. Even though the girl wasn't a vampire yet she still had better hearing than a human

So Damon didn't speak until they were downstairs.

"She has amnesia?" Damon said. "Stefan said that you told him she doesn't know how she got here."

Rebecca shrugged. "I figured that would go away if she turned. Maybe someone compelled her to forget or something and her mind hasn't healed itself."

Damon wasn't so sure, because the fact that Sarah was so far into the transition already should've meant that she'd already recovered from any maladies she'd had. The only way the girl wouldn't be able to remember everything and _still_ not remember after beginning to transition was if somebody had royally fucked with her mind. And if that was case, who knew how long it would take for her to remember everything.

"Hm."

"What?"

"She knows something. She has to, or no one would've made her forget. I think she was sent here. She just doesn't know it."

"Sent here?" Rebecca shook her head to show her confusion and then winced like she was in pain. "Why?"

"I don't know." They had made it to the basement now, and Damon opened the cooler and grabbed a couple of blood bags. He had noticed Rebecca's pained expression but he wasn't going to mention it now. "But it can't be a coincidence that someone found her and she just happened to be at the hospital when you got there. I think . . . I think someone's been here the whole time reporting to whoever's higher up on the food chain. They're testing you to see what you'll do, how you'll react to things. In other words, they're making you their prey."

Rebecca looked down at the basement floor, taking that in. Was Sarah playing her with her little girl ways? Was she faking it, trying to get into the Slayer's inner circle? Was Rebecca being sensitive and stupid, taking a risk she shouldn't?

She suddenly knew she didn't care. The girl deserved a chance and, even if she was faking, she might change her tune if Rebecca was nice to her. Sarah hadn't been manipulative like that when Rebecca had known her the year before, so she hoped she wasn't misjudging the situation completely.

"There's something you should know," Rebecca said, and Damon raised a brow in question. "I know her. She used to live here until she and her family moved."

"Oh," Damon said. "That just adds more credit to my theory."

"I know. And I don't care. She should be given a chance."

"Okay. Now I have to know what happened at the hospital. You're pale and you're shaking and seem like you're in pain."

Rebecca looked down at the ground guiltily. Damon tilted her face back up so he could see her face.

"There's something else you should know," Rebecca said. "And _please_ don't be angry with me."

_Uh-oh._

"I'll try.

"You know how we have that bond? The one that let's us know when the other is in trouble?"

"Yeah . . ." Damon said hesitantly.

"Well . . . I can actually feel when you're in trouble. I know Pearl was here, Damon. I know what she did to you because I felt it."

Damon blinked in surprise. She had felt what had happened to him.

"Is this the first time that happened?"

"No. When Stefan stabbed you . . . after Lexi. And then when Logan shot you. And now this." Rebecca began rubbing her head. "I still have the headache from it."

"My eyes are still sensitive," Damon said, automatically making the connection of _why_ Rebecca still had the headache. "Why didn't you tell me this? This . . . whatever it is between us . . . is causing you pain."

"Because I didn't want you to know. I didn't want you to blame yourself or get any ideas of leaving me for my own good. The good outweighs the bad, okay? And I'm okay. Just a little headache."

Damon took a deep breath and let it out, and then he noticed the blood bags that were still in his hand. "Okay, we're gonna have to talk about this, but right now there's a hungry almost-vampire upstairs."

* * *

When Damon took Sarah the blood he did warn her that the first few sips would be painful because her canines had to grow. If she hadn't been so young she would've had to find out on her own, because he wouldn't have told her.

He half expected her to change her mind, but she was still adamant about not dying, so . . . There was more crying, but he got that. He remembered how much it hurt when one wasn't used to it.

He was still on the fence with this. He knew Rebecca thought everyone should have a chance, and the choice should've been the little girl's. But the _little girl_ didn't know what she was getting herself into. How could she? And for her not to remember much . . . Something had to be wrong with her.

Rebecca, who was behind Damon, grabbed his arm and whispered his name. She almost couldn't watch the young girl as she truly turned. Rebecca's heart beat faster and she bit her lip so hard it hurt. She felt like crying but she wouldn't let herself. Not in front of Sarah. Rebecca knew kids sometimes reacted to emotions around them, so she wanted to appear calm.

"Um . . . I'm gonna have to leave soon," she said to Damon. "Hold down the fort for me?"

"Your wish, as always, is my command," he quipped.

She smiled and jokingly batted her eyelashes at him. "Of course it is." She kissed him on the cheek and said, "I love you. And I really _do_ appreciate this - all of it."

"I know you do," he said, returning her smile. "Which is why I don't mind doing it. I would walk you out, but, uh . . ." He gestured at Sarah.

"Got it."

Rebecca left the room and Damon listened as she went downstairs, said a loud, "Thank you, Stefan!" and walked out the door. He knew Chelsea was still here because he hadn't heard Rebecca take her.

Sarah was still on her first blood bag but it was going fast. Damon was already fixing the second on for her so she could get enough to last a little while, at least, but when she went for it he held it just out of reach.

"Ah, ah, ah! I have a few questions for you. The first being . . . are you for real?"

Sarah didn't stop looking at the bag in Damon's hands. "I'm not lying if that's what you mean."

"So you really don't know anything?"

"No. Now give it!"

Sarah didn't seem to give a second thought as to what she was wanting, which was just as well, Damon thought.

"Say please," Damon teased, holding it out and yanking it back.

Sarah _didn't_ say please. She leaped off the bed and, in an obvious display of frustration, went straight for Damon's jugular. Damon had her pinned to the ground before she blinked. Sarah fought and she even scratched Damon's arm with her fingernails, but he had strength and years of experience on her.

"Calm down and you can have the blood. I promise. Now breathe and focus on calming down."

Damon couldn't believe he was doing this. How the hell had he let himself be pulled into this one, really? He should have killed Sarah instead of letting her turn. No one deserved to be thirteen for all of eternity. She'd been in the beginning of teen life and she would stay there. Letting her live was more a punishment than an act of mercy. And she snapped even more quickly than he did, but she _was_ brand new. That might have been the reason. New and hungry.

It took a few minutes for Sarah to calm down but she finally did. And, as promised, he gave her the blood.

"Did you feel that? That mindless need to destroy? When people make you angry you're gonna feel that from now on. You're gonna have to learn to control that, learn to decide when it's worth it and when it's not."

Sarah took the second bag of blood in slowly because Damon told her she couldn't have anymore until night came. She probably resented the fact that she was given a limit but she didn't say anything. It was just as well, because Damon wouldn't budge on that. He didn't want to be doing this but he was, so he was going to do it right.

And giving her a limit would make her get used to not going rampant when it came to blood.

"Good. Now . . . Just so you know . . . If you're lying to us, this will not end well for you. Rebecca wants to give you a chance because you're so young and that's the _only_ reason you're still alive right now. You got it?"

Sarah nodded but seemed a little more interested in the blood she was drinking.

"Hey! Are you hearing me?"

"Mm-hm."

"Well, good. Because I mean it. If you're here for Rebecca, I will kill you."

_That_ got her attention, at least, and she looked at him. He locked eyes with her and she didn't say anything. She just nodded. Feeling he'd made himself perfectly clear, he walked out of the room and left her to it.

* * *

Rebecca had gone back to the hospital and was spending time with her aunt, who was awake now, and her dad, who was glad Sarah was okay. Rebecca's cover story had been that Sarah's parents had come and released her from the hospital, and Rebecca had gone with her to make sure she was okay. It made sense because Robert had known Sarah's parents and would've been completely fine with Rebecca leaving with her or them. It wasn't suspicious because, back when Sarah had lived here before, Rebecca had babysat her. It had been before Chelsea had even been born; it had been before her mom had even become pregnant.

Both Tina and Robert were impressed that she could care so much about someone that she would do that. That was Rebecca's curse, she thought. She cared about everything a little too much - it wasn't her fault, really; it was just the way it was.

"So, did the doctor say anything else today? About your condition?" Rebecca asked.

"Just that I need more rest," her aunt said.

"And that her blood pressure was a little high," Robert added. "Um . . . that's easily fixed, though."

"Oh, well, good."

"I should be able to get out tomorrow night as long as I don't get worse," Tina said.

"That's good too." Rebecca sighed. After the long day she'd had, she really didn't feel like bringing anything stressful up, but it made sense to do it now when they were all together in one room. "I wanna talk to you guys about something."

"Okay," Tina said. "What?"

"What did Grandma and Grandpa mean when they said you decided to stay with Mom? Were you not going to? Or was I just unexpected?"

Robert shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "Becca, there's something you have to understand about me and your mother."

"Okay . . ."

"I wasn't in love with your mother when I married her. I only married her because I got her pregnant and it was the right thing to do. I grew to love her over time, but . . ."

"If you didn't love her, why did you get her pregnant?" Rebecca asked naively.

"Honey, people have sex all the time without having love in the equation."

"I know that, but . . ."

"To make a long story less long . . . I was in love with Tina."

Rebecca's mouth dropped open and she glanced at her aunt. "Tina . . ."

"We were together, baby. Your dad made a mistake one night. He and Jess were drunk and it just happened. I forgave him a long time ago. Right around the time he married my sister to right the wrong he'd made."

"And now . . ." Rebecca asked, her voice shaking.

"Now . . . Tina's pregnant," Robert said. "And I'd like to make that right, too."

"Oh, I . . . I don't know why you didn't tell me this before. It would've made everything make more sense. I'm happy if you're happy, but . . . I'm gonna need some time to get used to this."

Inside everything fell into place. The arguments Jessica had had with Robert when she'd been alive. The feeling that Robert didn't want to be a dad - he probably hadn't then, not with Jess as the mother. She was proud that her dad had offered marriage as an option for Jess, though. Times were hard on a single mother.

It would still take time to get used to the idea that her dad had been with her aunt. That Tina's baby was her father's. Tina had specifically told Rebecca that the baby had nothing to do with Robert, but . . . Rebecca guessed that had been a lie. That was really the only part of the whole thing that really pissed her off. Yes, she was upset that they hadn't told her sooner, but she guessed that went both ways. She could've asked and she never had.

* * *

Neither Robert nor Rebecca stayed that night because Tina told them there was no need. She'd be fine. Rebecca felt bad about leaving her there, but her aunt was insistent so Rebecca left.

It was just as well because Rebecca needed to ask Jeremy for Anna's number. Anna had been young, too, when she'd been turned. Rebecca had never really asked for the story because she hadn't felt it her place, but Anna looked only about fifteen. Rebecca thought maybe Anna could help Sarah. It would take the stress load off of Damon and help the new vampire adjust to her new life.

So when she and her dad got home she walked over to the Gilbert residence. She'd promised her dad she wouldn't stay out too late and she'd be quiet when she got home so she wouldn't wake him up. That was if she came home; she had to go back to the boardinghouse to get Chelsea.

Jeremy let her in and asked about her aunt; she told him all that she knew.

When Rebecca mentioned Anna Jeremy said she was supposed to come over that night anyway, so Rebecca could talk to her then. Well, after, anyway, when Jeremy wasn't around. Elena was there, but she was getting ready to go to Caroline's so they didn't talk for long. At least Elena didn't seem suspicious about leaving Rebecca with Jeremy anymore. Rebecca guessed that meant Elena trusted her not to say anything that could lead to vampires or anything else that was supernaturally related.

She and Jeremy talked for a while since they hadn't spent much time together in the recent past. She felt sort of bad about that, but if Elena insisted on keeping her brother out of the loop, Rebecca couldn't hang around him a lot because she hated having to lie to him.

"I didn't even know you knew Anna that well," Jeremy said.

"Oh, well, yeah. We're friends." _Sort of_, Rebecca added silently. _At least we're not trying to kill each other_.

"Yeah? Good." Jeremy offered her a soda and she accepted. "So, we're finally selling Dad's old office building. Or at least we're trying."

Dr. Grayson Gilbert had had an office in Mystic Falls for his medical practice. It was one of the original buildings of the town. It had belonged to Pearl, Rebecca remembered, and it had been an apothecary.

"You're okay with that?" she asked.

"Yeah. It was kind of depressing, it just sitting there and all."

When Anna got there Rebecca was amused at the way Anna seemed surprised that she was there, but she got over it pretty quickly when she realized Rebecca wasn't there to cause trouble. Anna talked about her mom getting a business opportunity. Pearl was going to open up a store.

"I'm thinking about going to high school, so you'll be seeing a lot more of me," Anna said to Jeremy.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Enough of home schooling. I'd like to be a normal teen for once. But I'll have to ask my mom first. She'll have an opinion."

Rebecca recognized the sadness and sincerity in that statement and had to look down at the ground to avoid looking guilty. Jeremy would read something into it if he saw her face. He would know she was hiding something.

"Well, I wish you were there now. I actually have to write another paper." Anna looked curious. "I was thinking about squeezing one more out on the vampires of Mystic Falls."

Rebecca choked on her soda and Jeremy looked at her with concern.

"Sorry! Uh, swallowed wrong." She coughed a few more times. "Vampires, huh?"

"Haven't you exhausted the subject?" Anna asked, and Rebecca noticed Anna was uncomfortable too.

"No, I wanna go deeper, you know? I wanna understand why people were labeled as vampires back in the day. I mean, maybe there is such a thing as vampires; they're just different from the way we always thought they were."

"What d'you mean?"

"Well, maybe they're normal and good, just outsiders, you know? Um . . . Misunderstood."

Anna and Rebecca shared a glance, and then the former said, "You're kidding, right?"

"Don't you think it could be possible?" Jeremy asked. "You _did_ give me all that info."

"Jeremy." Anna shook her head. "I made it up, okay? I mean, you were all cute and floppy and I wanted to make a good impression."

For some reason, Rebecca didn't think Jeremy believed Anna. It made her wonder how much Jeremy knew exactly and whether or not he thought Anna was a vampire, and, if he did know everything, _how_ he had found out.

A few minutes later Jeremy went into the kitchen and Anna was left in the living room with Rebecca.

"I take it from your reaction that you didn't know he was digging into vampires," Anna whispered.

Rebecca shrugged and shook her head. "Nope. Anyway, I came over here to get your number from Jeremy."

"Why?" Anna was genuinely surprised.

"I need you to do something for me, but we can't talk about it here." Rebecca gestured to the kitchen where Jeremy was. "So . . . tonight after we leave here you can, uh . . . come to my house. Okay? Um . . . Use my bedroom window and you can go on in."

Anna smiled softly. It was like she was surprised Rebecca would even think of letting her in. Speaking of . . .

"That will work, right? I mean . . . I don't have to be in my house to invite you in, right?"

"_Go on in_ is a pretty direct invitation; it should work fine. And, uh, I need to talk to you too."

_Uh-oh_, Rebecca thought. Something was wrong.

"Hey, guys, come on. Don't make me pig out alone," Jeremy's voice drifted in from the kitchen.

"He beckons," Anna quipped and stood up. "You coming?"

"Um . . . I think I'm gonna go, actually. Your number would be nice, though."

Surprisingly enough, Anna accepted her number, too.

"Like I said, just come through the bedroom window, okay? And Anna? As far as I'm concerned, we're good. I don't have a problem with you. I actually think you're a pretty awesome girl and I think we could be friends. When you threatened my friends you were in a bad place and you were desperate, and I get that. So . . . Friends?"

Again that small smile played over her lips. "Sure. Or we could try, anyway."

"Well, good. But put a leash on your mom, okay? No more going after Damon." Rebecca stood up then and said, "See ya later, Jer!" loud enough for him to hear in the kitchen.

"See ya," he responded back.

Rebecca watched Anna go in the kitchen and she wondered if Anna and Jeremy were a relationship in the making. She wouldn't mention it to Elena because she knew Elena wouldn't like it. And, even though Elena was dating a vampire herself, she would try to get in the way of Jeremy's happiness if she knew about Anna still hanging with Jeremy.

Right before Rebecca walked out the door she heard a thump come from the kitchen and then, "What're you doing?" Anna had said that, and then there was silence. Rebecca felt the need to make sure everything was okay so she made her way to the kitchen.

"Jer?" she said hesitantly.

What she found was Jeremy shoved up against the refrigerator with Anna, in all her vampire glory, feeding from Jeremy. Jeremy didn't seem to mind it; in fact he seemed to be enjoying it.

"Anna!" Rebecca said. "Stop it!" Really, this shouldn't have been done in the kitchen - anyone could walk in.

Before Rebecca could grab Anna, the girl took off out the back door. Rebecca looked from the door to Jeremy, who was looking at the blood on his hand, and she decided Jeremy needed her more. Besides, Rebecca had seen Anna's face - vampire or not, Anna had been distraught at the fact that she could've hurt Jeremy.

Rebecca grabbed Jeremy's hand and saw that not only was there a bite mark but there was a semi-deep cut there as well. She eyed the teen suspiciously and grabbed a dish towel from one of the drawers.

"You cut yourself on purpose," she said, only with a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

"I notice you're not freaking out." His tone was steady enough that she knew what he was implying. "You know. I knew there was something going on with you; you were acting too weird."

She grimaced and pressed the towel to his hand harder than was necessary. He winced and she let up a little.

"Sorry. Yes, I know, and what you just did was extremely stupid. A lesser vampire would've killed you. Some aren't as in control."

"How long have you known?" Jeremy asked seriously.

"The beginning of the school year."

"Yeah, that's when you started acting really weird." He grinned the grin that he knew she thought was adorable. "No offense."

She almost grinned back but chose not to because this was a serious situation. "You know you can't tell anyone, right?"

"Like anyone would believe me."

"In any other town, I'd say "Yeah, really," but not here. You'd be surprised what people would believe."

"I won't tell," he said. "I wouldn't do that to Anna. But . . . why haven't you?"

"Uh, I have my reasons." She pulled him by the arm and led him to the stairs. "Let's get you cleaned up. And watch the carpets; blood's a bitch."

Jeremy chuckled as they went to the bathroom and Rebecca got the first aid kit.

"Since when are you a nurse?"

"Since I found out about vampires I've had to administer first aid _a lot_. Mostly on myself."

"Why?"

"Uh . . ." She looked around nervously. "I can't talk about it here. Someone could walk in. But soon, and somewhere not here, I'll explain everything, okay?"

"Yeah." He cuffed her on the chin gently and smiled. "Hopefully we can be close again after this."

This time she smiled back. "Yeah, hopefully." Then she shook her head. "Not hopefully. We will be, because I won't have to hide things from you anymore."

* * *

After Rebecca had taken care of Jeremy's hand she left and realized she had restless energy to spend, so she decided to do a patrol through the town square. During the day, there were food vendors on the street and merchants with flower carts. Sometimes there were even musicians or dancers or jugglers or magicians or, to her amusement, mimes. It was all small town fun.

At night, though, everything changed. People died mysteriously and, most of the time, the locals ignored it or chalked it up to wild animals. But . . . Rebecca hoped that that was just a front. They must've realized after a great many mysterious deaths that something was wrong.

Given the effort the sheriff put in to keep the town calm, the people didn't stay in at night, which was usually why they died. Most people in Mystic Falls were not killed in their homes.

Rebecca was aware that she shouldn't be doing this alone. Damon would not be happy if she got hurt because she was taking an unnecessary risk by patrolling by herself. But he was on Sarah duty, and Chelsea duty, because she'd asked him to help out, and Stefan would be about as useful as a . . . as a bunny rabbit against other, stronger, vampires. He would just be in the way was her opinion.

There had been a girl found in some bushes in a park the day before. Rebecca hadn't seen the body, but she had seen the crime scene photos. The girl had had wounds on her throat, arms, wrists, and legs. There had been a feeding frenzy. Probably more than one vampire, which meant there was a new vampire gang in town. The thought had occurred to Liz too but she hadn't put it the way Rebecca had.

Then someone screamed and Rebecca took off running in that direction. Rebecca had subconsciously made her way to the park the girl had been killed in. And now someone else was being attacked there. She ran until she heard a whimper. She wasn't sure who it belonged to until she came upon five or six vampires and two humans. One was dead, the other almost dead.

Rebecca grabbed the nearest vampire from behind and dug into the flesh of his throat. Within seconds she had broken off a piece of wood from a nearby park bench and had shoved the sharp edge through his back to reach the heart. The vampire died without a sound.

The other five were in shock and, before they could act, she spun a high kick and pushed a vampire backward. He fell over the dead body, which was ironic since the body was there because of the vampires. Then they were pouncing. She turned and grabbed another piece of wood from the bench. She met the first vampire with a sharp jab to the heart and then there were four.

One of the vampires, this one a girl, snarled and ordered, "Kill her!"

They attacked and Rebecca brought all her pent up frustration to the surface so she could feed on the fire it brought her. She grabbed the nearest vampire and they fought. He was good at fighting. She almost enjoyed trading blows with this one. She just wished they were only sparring so neither of them would have to die.

She tried to kick him in the stomach but he caught her foot and flipped her onto the ground. Before she could roll and get back on her feet, he dropped on top of her and forced her harder onto the ground. Rebecca tried maneuvering her stake but the girl vampire - God, she looked familiar for some reason - stomped on her wrist and Rebecca cried out in pain. Needless to say, the stake had fallen from her hand.

The vampire on top of her slammed her head against the ground and pain shot through her. As if she didn't already have enough of a headache. Then his fingers closed around her throat. He was choking her, killing her. She wanted to hurl him off of her or use her legs to flip him over and onto his back, but she couldn't breathe and her lungs were screaming for oxygen. And he was laughing at her. It pissed her off and she knew she _had_ to throw him off, do something to just prove she could. To shove him off his high-horse. But . . . she couldn't.

She felt a burn in her arm as the girl vampire bit into her wrist. As her world was slowly falling away she saw a long thin wooden stake poke through the vampire's chest. The one on top of her was dead now and falling toward her, and so was the sharp wood. God, it was going to impale her.

Only it didn't. But the vampire did fall on her. She could breathe now, and she yanked her hand away from the one who had been drinking from her. That one was quickly disposed of, too.

The other two had run away and the girl they'd been feeding from had died. A shadow fell over Rebecca and she quickly prepared herself to fight even though she was weak. She wasn't just going to roll over and play dead.

She grabbed for her stake but stopped when she found she couldn't move her wrist. _Fuck!_

"You won't be needing that," a male voice that she vague recognized said.

She looked up from the ground. "Mr. Saltzman?"

"Miss Stone? What're you doing out here?"

"Almost dying, apparently," she said dryly. "And getting rescued by the most unlikely person."

She realized her voice was weak and she sounded kind of drunk; she hoped he didn't get the wrong impression.

"Ah."

He helped her up and she looked around at the carnage. "What a mess."

"Yeah, you're telling me. What happened to the first two?" Ric grabbed her wrist gently. "May I?"

She shrugged. "Sure. Careful, it hurts. I think it's broken. And _I_ happened to the first two."

Ric shook his head. "But you're so little."

He seemed stunned and she laughed a little. It made her head rush.

"But also deadly." She looked around again and sighed. "I should call this in. You should go."

"Call it in?"

"Um . . . the sheriff. I work with her; if one can call it work because I don't get paid."

And now that she thought about it, she was going to talk to Liz about that. She was out there risking her life and she wasn't getting money for it. That wasn't fair. If she was going to die by the hands of a vampire, she was going to benefit from it, damn it.

"The sheriff knows about vampires?"

Rebecca looked at him steadily. "Who do you think covers it all up?" Then it occurred to her . . . "What the hell are _you_ doing out here?"

Ric shrugged. "I don't know. Heard about the attack on the girl, thought I'd come check it out. Seems the vampires have found a new feeding ground."

"Hm. Well . . . you still should go. And . . . thank you. I would've been killed had you not shown up."

"No problem."

She watched Ric walk away and sighed again. Then she called Liz. Then she thought of Damon. Assuming their connection was still there for him . . . he was probably freaking out. She was probably looking for her right now.

So she called him. She could tell by the breathlessness in his voice that, yes, he'd been worried, and, yes, he'd felt she was in trouble. He hadn't known where she'd been so . . .

"Well, where are you? I'll come get you."

"No, I have to wait for Liz. I'm in the park, but you don't have to -"

"I'll be there in a minute. Do you care if I leave Chelsea with Stefan?"

"As long as she's safe with him, no."

She was glad Damon was coming because, as always when things were going wrong, she wanted to be with him. He needed to hurry because Ric had bandaged her wrist as best as he could given there were open wounds there but she was sure the vampire had hit the vein and she was still bleeding out. She was keeping pressure on it, but . . .

To keep her mind off of her wrist she texted Anna to ask if she would meet her at the boardinghouse instead. Damon appeared within minutes - he had run faster than she could've driven.

* * *

Damon, of course, had smelled her blood before he had seen her. Looking at her, it registered in his brain that she looked like she'd been through a hell of a battle. She was favoring her right wrist, which was bandaged with what looked like a strip of cloth from a shirt, and there were bruises all over her neck where it looked like she'd been choked.

"What happened to you?" Stupid question, but he asked anyway.

"Fight," she said simply. She wasn't going to tell him how bad it had been for her, apparently. "Liz is coming and she's going to take care of it. Two people died. Four vampires died."

"I can see that for myself, thanks." She was in a mood, apparently. "You shouldn't have come here by yourself."

"I heard someone scream. I didn't really think about it. God, I have a headache. I need some aspirin."

"Your wrist is bleeding," Damon observed after a few seconds. "What happened?"

"Hurt myself."

"Obviously. Let me see."

Something was obviously bothering her, and it wasn't the fact that two people - human people - had died. He'd seen her bothered by death and she didn't act this way about that. So it was something else.

Rebecca let him take the makeshift bandage off. He almost growled when he saw the bite mark there. She yanked her hand away and he realized he'd been squeezing too hard.

"Ow! My wrist still hurts, you know." She placed her hand back in his. "Don't spazz out on me."

"They don't usually bite you when you fight," he said, sort of explaining and sounding apologetic.

"I think these were more experienced vampires. They weren't after me. They were feeding and I interrupted them. They pounced. One of them bit me while the other tried to choke the life out of me."

Damon was getting a serious word picture in his brain, and he was not happy. He didn't like her patrolling alone, and it had nothing to do with her being a woman. He'd underestimated women before and had gotten his ass kicked. It had to do with him _caring_. She shouldn't fight alone because she could die. She could've died that night.

And . . . _that_ was the problem. Not the two people who the vampires had killed. The problem was she'd almost died. She wasn't used to almost dying. Yes, she'd had some close calls, but it had been a while since the last time, and she was scared. Rebecca didn't like feeling scared.

Rebecca was going to end up driving him crazy, he was sure of it.

He used his vampire senses to make sure no one was anywhere near them - and no one was - and he bit into his wrist so she could drink and heal herself. There was a selfish reason in there too. The only bite mark he wanted on her was _his_. Possessive vampire crap, yes. But he didn't care.

"Anna may me coming to the boardinghouse tonight," Rebecca said, wiping her mouth. "I asked her for her help with Sarah. Anna was young, too, when she was turned."

"Right." Since Rebecca obviously wasn't acting like herself right now he just went with it. "Speaking of . . . She wouldn't stop crying today."

It had driven him to drink. It was either that or kill her, and Rebecca wouldn't have liked that. Not so soon after the girl's transformation.

"Be more careful next time, okay?" he said, changing the subject back to her. "I know you can take care of yourself, but you put too much on yourself at one time. You're just one person, Becca."

Rebecca was surprised Damon hadn't just outright told her not to patrol alone again. He probably knew it wouldn't do any good. She couldn't wait for him to patrol with her, and it wasn't his job anyway.

* * *

It was late-ish when Damon and Rebecca got to the boardinghouse. Rebecca was still a little woozy from blood loss but she was on her way to feeling better since Damon had given her some of his blood.

Anna had already arrived at the boardinghouse and when she saw Rebecca she apologized for Jeremy as Rebecca led her upstairs to the little girl's room. Sarah was probably asleep, but it wouldn't hurt for Anna to introduce herself.

"I've never heard of anyone turning someone so young unless there was a reason. Like me. My mom was turned and then I got sick. She turned me so I wouldn't die."

When they got to the room Rebecca stayed outside because she didn't know if her presence would make it worse or not for Sarah. While Anna was in the room Rebecca tried calling her dad but got the voice mail, so she just told him she was staying at the boardinghouse because of a vampire problem. Liz would fill him in in the morning if he wanted her to.

Rebecca listened in at the door and realized Sarah was crying because she couldn't shut out the noise and it was too much. She wasn't used to it and she could hear _everything_. It was driving her insane.

"Breathe," Anna whispered. "Just breathe, okay? It'll get better, I promise."

A waft of air hit Rebecca in the face and then Damon was there. Rebecca saw he was as concerned as he'd let himself appear.

Damon grabbed her arm and they went to his room. She flopped onto the bed and groaned. It had been a very tiring day. There was her aunt and her dad, Sarah, and her job. Not to mention the fact that she'd almost died.

"I think I made a mistake," she said. Her voice was low so the new vampire wouldn't hear. "With Sarah. She's terribly unhappy. I shouldn't have left it up to her. There was no way she could've know what it meant."

"She attacked me today," Damon said. "Though it was what I wanted. I needed to know her snapping point. She has a very short fuse."

Rebecca didn't say anything; she just laid there. Damon began untying her shoelaces and she looked at him gratefully. She was too tired to move and he knew it. He was taking care of her.

Rebecca was asleep as soon as she was underneath the covers. She'd even forgotten to ask about Chelsea.

* * *

Okay, so here we see the beginning of a new edition to the story. Sarah! Do you like her, do you not like her? Keep her around, get rid of her? LOL

Anyway, read and review!


	44. Chapter 39

Chapter Thirty-Nine

The next morning Rebecca woke up first, which was weird because Damon usually had that pleasure. Apparently the events from the day before had worn him out. She couldn't help but stare at the contours of Damon's face. She found it ironic that someone who had such an angelic face would be so devilish.

_Okay, so he's a dark angel,_ Rebecca thought, mentally shrugging. But he _was_ trying for her. Ric being alive was testament to that. God, everything was happening all at once, and sometimes she worried about whether or not Damon's twisted psyche could handle all of it without snapping.

She caressed his cheek once and then stood up and stretched. She removed her shirt and tossed it in the corner. She thought idly that the slaying profession should come with wardrobe insurance - she'd ruined more clothing this year than she had in her whole life. She grabbed another shirt from one of the dressers. She slipped it on and realized it was about three sizes too big. Damon's shirt.

"Mm." She was obviously not fully awake.

She left it on, though, since she wasn't planning on going to the hospital yet and went out of the room. She went to Sarah's room and was amused at the sight that met her.

Stefan had a small mug of what she assumed was blood in his hand and the girl had scrunched her nose up at it.

"But I don't wanna eat bunnies!" Sarah complained. "They're all cute and fluffy. I will not eat things that are cute and fluffy."

"Kids think of bunnies as pets, Stef. You'll never get her to drink that."

Sarah saw her and hopped off the bed and ran, stopped right in front of her. Sarah had always liked Rebecca.

"How're you doing today?" Rebecca asked.

"Better. The nice girl from last night helped."

"I'm glad," Rebecca said sincerely.

"I remember some things," Sarah said. "It came to me in a dream."

It came to her in a dream? Possible, Rebecca guessed, but that either meant she was just remembering that way, _or_ she was something more than a vampire.

"Well, that's convenient," Damon's voice came from right behind Rebecca.

The girl's defiant glare was adorable. "It's true. It did just come." Then less defiantly . . . "Stefan wants me to eat bunnies. I don't want to hurt bunnies. They're defenseless and hoppy, and what'd they ever do to you, anyway?"

The last part was directed at Stefan, who had a deer-caught-in-the-headlights look planted firmly on his face.

"Well, see . . . Stefan chooses not to feed from humans because he doesn't want to risk killing them," Rebecca said, trying to hold back the laugh that wanted to escape. "Because then he would feel guilty and when you're a vampire the guilt can drive you insane if you let it."

"Oh. Well, bunnies have feelings too," Sarah retorted. "One day they're all gonna gang up on you and thump you to death."

Damon had to fight to control his expression to keep it neutral. At least Sarah was happier today. Anna being there last night had obviously helped a lot.

"Anyway, I want breakfast," Rebecca said. "So I'm gonna head downstairs."

Sarah followed Rebecca and strolled directly into a path of sunlight. She yanked back and her face changed. To her credit . . . she didn't scream. She whimpered a little and looked at her skin with wonder.

"Right," Damon said as if he'd just thought of it. "Vampires burn in the sun."

"You don't burn," Sarah said. "Is that a special power?"

"Nope, just a convenience. Some vampires have a piece of jewelry that protects them."

Rebecca watched Sarah home in on Damon's and Stefan's rings. Realization sparked in the girl's brown eyes.

"Sunlight jewelry." She looked up at Rebecca. "I want a ring. Get it for me."

Rebecca's eyes widened at the tone Sarah was using. She was bossy; she always had been. She'd been spoiled, but Rebecca had always hoped that Sarah would grow out of it. She obviously hadn't.

"That's not how it works, honey," Rebecca said, and the way she used the word "honey" was definitely not a term of endearment. "You don't tell us what to do. I helped you. They're letting you stay here. Some respect would be nice."

"Then I'm stuck here?" Sarah's tone was accusatory and Rebecca didn't like it.

"You can leave if you want," Damon said, not helpfully. "I don't recommend it, though."

Sarah crossed her arms over her chest. Rebecca was no longer amused by the little girl. She did not like bratty children.

"As I said, I'm going to find something to eat. Stay up here and sulk if you want."

And _just like that_ Sarah pounced at Rebecca, much like she had done at Damon the day before. And, as with Damon, she went straight for the jugular. Undisciplined as she was . . . it didn't take long for her to be pinned again. By Rebecca this time.

"You're not the only super being here, Sarah. Stop attacking when you know you can't win. And just because you're a vampire now doesn't mean you can't die. If you get out of hand . . . you won't last very long."

Rebecca hated having to be this way to a thirteen-year-old, but they needed to nip this in the bud before it got out of control. Sarah couldn't act this way and get away with it.

After she was sure Sarah wasn't going to attack, Rebecca let her up. Memories or no memories, Rebecca thought Sarah knew she was used to getting her way or she wouldn't have reacted the way she had. Speaking of . . . Rebecca really wanted to know what Sarah knew about her family, about Chase. If he was here . . . and if he was a vampire . . . this would not end well. For anyone, especially her.

As Damon watched on, he thought they were definitely going to have a problem with their new vampire friend. She needed to learn to control herself, yet they couldn't really teach her because she wasn't stable enough to be around people.

* * *

Downstairs, Damon set to fixing Rebecca some pancakes. They had a system now. If he woke up at her house, she would cook, if he wanted human food. If she woke up there at the boardinghouse then he would cook. Once the food was done he watched her drown the pancakes in butter and syrup. Not a portion was dry.

"Mm . . ." Rebecca had an orgasmic look on her face as she chewed her first bite. "So good."

Damon, however, wasn't thinking about the food; he was focusing on the pleasurable expressions on his lover's face. Rebecca loved food. She had a sweet tooth to beat all, and she enjoyed eating. She'd once told him that she hated girls who were scared to put dressing on a salad just because they might gain an ounce; food was put on this earth for humans to enjoy so she enjoyed it excessively.

"Tina will probably get out today, which is awesome. And I need a ride if you feel like taking me."

"Sure. Uh . . . what're we gonna do about . . ." He looked up and mouthed, "Sarah."

Rebecca shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. It's not looking good, though." A second later she asked Damon, "Is Chelsea awake?"

She saw him concentrate for a few seconds; he was listening. "Stefan's got her."

"Oh. Uh . . ." She looked at him with a pleading expression. "Can you handle both Chelsea and Sarah today? If you can't, I'll take her with me, but I really -"

Damon's mouth was suddenly on hers. He still interrupted her that way, and it still made her feel torn between annoyance and appreciation.

"I'll do whatever you need me to do, Becca."

"Mm . . ." She smiled softly, at ease now. He didn't even know how good he was to her, she didn't think. "I really, _really_ love you."

She loved that his eyes lit up with happiness every time she told him how she felt. Sometimes she felt she was taking advantage of how much he loved her. She got him to do things he normally would feel no need to just because he felt for her.

* * *

Later, at the hospital, there was another uproar. Rebecca had been in the room with her aunt when she heard arguing voices, but since there didn't seem to be any violence going on she intended to stay out of it. But it wasn't meant to be.

"Miss Stone, there's a young man who wishes to speak with you. It's about the young girl from yesterday."

Rebecca turned to see a nurse who looked a little frazzled around the edges. Poor woman. Rebecca then turned to her aunt, and Tina nodded, giving her leave to go.

"I'll be right back."

Rebecca followed the nurse out into the hallway, and said nurse pointed to someone with blond hair. He was tall, lean, and she knew him. Chase Carson. She'd been expecting him ever since she'd found Sarah. She'd . . . he had . . . they had gone out in her junior year, and then he'd moved away with his mom before the school year had ended.

"Chase?"

Rebecca realized her mouth was hanging open but she couldn't help it. She had never wanted to see him again and, even though she'd _felt_ that he would be reappearing, it was still odd seeing him. He'd made her swear off men forever - until she'd met Damon, of course. Chase had been a complete and total _ass_ to her. But he'd also taught her not to accept any bullshit from people.

Chase had a very noticeable scar on his cheek, right below his left eye. She remembered she'd been the one to give it to him. He'd been an ass one too many times and she'd retaliated.

_Rebecca and Chase had been at the local movie theater, the one that showed old movies, and they'd had a good time. Popcorn, making fun of the corny movies and bad special effects. Rebecca was glad they could still have fun together. They'd been having a rough patch. They'd been arguing almost nonstop._

_It all started with Chase failing math. Because of that one bad grade he was benched in football, at least until he brought his grade up. He'd gotten irritable, so Rebecca had left that subject alone even though she was willing to help him if he wanted her to. Her offering to help turned into him wanting her to do his work for him, which she had refused to do.  
_

_He'd gotten mad and had made her leave his house. He was fine the next day.  
_

_And yet, every time something went wrong now, he would lash out at her as if it were her fault. Eventually he told her that maybe if she'd "make him feel better" he wouldn't be so angry all the time. She'd known what that meant and she hadn't been into it. She shouldn't have to make him feel good just so he wouldn't be angry with her. That wasn't what making love was about.  
_

_She said no and he got progressively aggressive towards her. He'd even hit her a few times. And the night of the movie date . . . it all came to a climax, the end of their relationship.  
_

_Rebecca hadn't known that Chase had shown up at the theater with a flask of whiskey until she'd seen him take it out when they'd been seated. By the time the movie had ended, Chase had had a buzz going. He was in a good mood until he'd made a move on her and she'd refused.  
_

_They had gone to the Falls after the movie and had just talked for a little bit. That part was good because they didn't talk enough, she didn't think. But then he slowly moved toward her. He started slow, kissing her and rubbing her back, making her feel comfortable and safe. Until he'd reached for the zipper of her jeans.  
_

_"No," she said. "Not here and not now."  
_

_"Why not? It's a beautiful night, there's a huge moon and it doesn't get much more romantic than this."  
_

_"This is not romantic. You brought me here just to you could get in my pants."  
_

_And he was _still_ trying to get in her pants. He had them unzipped now and unbuttoned. He was reaching down into her panties now._

_"Chase, I said no!"  
_

_She reached for the door handle knowing that if she opened it she would fall out, but she didn't care. All she cared about was getting away from him. So she opened the door and, within seconds, her back hit the ground. Chase had fallen forward into the seat and it took him a second to get his bearings.  
_

_Rebecca got up and ran towards the road. If she could get to the road, where the cars were, Chase couldn't hurt her. Not where people would see. But he caught her and brought her down to the ground again. She felt her knees get scraped against the hard ground and her hands stung from where she'd caught herself.  
_

_Rebecca had never been more scared in her life. Chase was drunk and obviously unstable right now. She knew what he wanted from her, had been bugging her about for the past few weeks. But she wouldn't let this happen. This wasn't how she wanted to remember her first time. Not with pain and violence. Not with Chase, period.  
_

_She'd known for a while now that he wasn't the one for her; she didn't know if he was the one for anyone. He had some serious issues he needed to work on before he'd be right for any girl that had a healthy mentality. She just hadn't known how to bring it up to him.  
_

_He turned her toward him and yanked at her jeans. She kicked at him but her legs weren't anywhere near strong enough to shove him away. But . . . the thing about being drunk is that one can get distracted very easily. Like Chase was distracted with her legs, with getting her pants off.  
_

_Rebecca didn't know if it was the adrenaline kicking in or her survival instincts getting into gear, but she reached for the closest thing available and began hitting him with it. It turned out that the object was a rock. The first time she hit at him all she got was his cheek. It cut him deep, though, and he let go of her legs. As she brought the rock around again to hit him, he grabbed her wrist and squeezed hard enough to make her let it go.  
_

_Then he backhanded her, making her head turn to the side with the force of his swing. She blacked out for a moment and when she came to Chase had her arms above her head . . .  
_

_That was all she could remember. She knew that somehow she had lifted her leg up to knee him in the groin and that when she'd gotten up she'd hit him with a thick branch. She hadn't aimed, she'd just swung and had hit him in the head. He'd passed out from the blow and she'd left him there.  
_

"Hey," he said and smiled, snapping her out of her memory.

She'd loved that smile at one point; it had drawn her in when she'd first met him. Now it made her stomach lurch because she knew that behind the smile was the most un-gentlemanlike jerk that deserved to fry in hell.

And . . . there was something about him. She drew in her senses, her natural Slayer ability, and finally she knew. He was a vampire. Her heart stopped. She'd been worried about that since . . . since she'd found Sarah.

"Hey?" Rebecca crossed her arms over her chest defensively and protectively. "What're you doing back?"

"Nice to feel welcome," Chase muttered. "We'll get to the point then. Sarah was here yesterday, the nurses said you helped her. Where is she?"

"How the hell should I know?"

Chase looked around and Rebecca was drawn to his eyes. They were a deep green, as they had been when they'd been together, but they were different now. Less . . . less hard, more open and warm. Worried, yes, but not angry.

"Can we go somewhere to talk? Please? I know what happened to her and I know you wanted to help her, so . . ."

Rebecca stiffened. There was no way he could possibly know. Unless . . . unless somehow he'd been there when it had happened. She'd have to hear him out.

"I'm not leaving this hospital," Rebecca made clear. "I don't trust you."

Chase let out a guilty sigh and nodded. "Understood, and I agree. I treated you . . ."

"Let's not take a walk down memory lane, okay? Say what you need to say so you can leave and I can get on with my fun Monday."

Chase seemed surprised she was so blunt and firm. She'd always just taken whatever he'd thrown out before, but she wasn't that way anymore. She was a fighter now. She'd always been a survivor, but now . . . now she was proactive and reactive. She wasn't just a doormat to be stepped on in passing.

The two ended up down in the cafeteria, drinking really bad coffee. Rebecca didn't say anything. She just waited for Chase to start. She hadn't really missed him when he'd left - she'd actually been relieved. But that didn't mean she wasn't conflicted about him being here.

Ironically, Chase had scared her more than Damon or Stefan or any other vampire ever had. He'd scared her because she'd let herself be scared. And Chase had fed on it - he'd _liked_ that he'd had power over her. He hadn't been that way at first, but with every passing week it had gotten worse. Until finally he'd resorted to physical abuse. It had happened only once before she realized it was going to be a normal thing. She'd never had the courage to leave him until that night after the movies. She'd broken up with him the next day, but that hadn't stopped him from doing it again. In fact, he'd gotten angrier and it had become worse. He'd had this sort of "If I can't have you, no one can mentality."

"I need to know where Sarah is, Becca," he said, and she bristled at the shortening of her name.

"Why?"

"Because, she's my sister and I promised I would look after her."

Rebecca scoffed. "Well, good job with that."

"Where is she?"

She shook her head. "Not here. You said you know what happened to her. Enlighten me."

Chase smiled. "You've changed. You're almost mean."

"I'm not mean," Rebecca said. "Just different. And you deserve a lot worse."

"Yeah. Right. Sarah is in this town, we were headed here anyway. I want her back. And yes, before you get all huffy, I know about the vampire thing, and the Slayer thing, and the witch thing -"

"Shh!"

Rebecca was shocked; she couldn't understand how he knew all these things. Well, the vampire and the Slayer things were obvious, bu Bonnie was the witch he was talking about. How the hell . . .? Oh, God, what if Damon was right and someone was making her their prey and what if Chase was the one doing it? He had done it before when he'd been human.

"Prove to me you care and maybe I'll tell you where Sarah is."

Chase pulled out his wallet and showed her a picture of him, Sarah, his mom, and a man she didn't know. His mom had obviously remarried. They _all_ looked happy together.

"She doesn't remember you," Rebecca said. "She only _barely_ recognized me. She probably won't even want to see you."

"She wouldn't remember. A witch I knew took her memories away."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"A witch, or a warlock, or whatever the male equivalent of witch is. He cast a spell and it sort of backfired. He'd only wanted to remove a few memories, but he was stronger than he thought he was. It wiped her slate clean."

"Why did he do that? What did she know?"

"Nothing more than a thirteen-year-old should. Except for the supernatural stuff. That was what he wanted to take away."

Rebecca couldn't say she believed him, but she couldn't say she didn't believe him either. The story sounded good enough, but she couldn't forget that he'd been an amazing liar. She'd been naive then, she wasn't about to make the same mistake again.

"You're a vampire," she said. "Why didn't you just compel her to forget?"

"I wasn't the one who wanted her to forget." He wasn't surprised that she'd brought up the vampire thing, it didn't seem.

"Hm. And why were you coming here?"

"Because you're here."

She felt the need to shiver. "And? Since when are you a vampire?"

"Since right about the time I left. It happened very shortly after."

"And . . . what do you want with me?"

"I . . . I know you're a good person, and I know now that I took advantage of your kindness and -"

"Don't even go there!" she snapped. "You don't get to apologize - you . . . do you even understand what you did to me? You _hurt_ me. The last time you were with me I ended up in the ICU because of you! I could've died that day, do you understand that? So don't sit there and tell me you took advantage of me!"

* * *

_Chase had come to Rebecca's house to tell her that he was leaving, his mom had decided they were going to move. Rebecca didn't really care. Good riddance, in her opinion.  
_

_"Well, aren't you gonna invite me in?" Chase asked.  
_

_"No." Rebecca's parents weren't home and she didn't want to be alone in the house with her abusive ex-boyfriend. Or with him at all, actually.  
_

_Chase, however, didn't see it that way and he shoved his way into the house.  
_

_"Chase . . ."  
_

_"You're alone here, aren't you?"  
_

_"You know I am." Rebecca felt her heart begin to pound. "Please just go. I've been nice and haven't reported you to the cops, but if you don't leave now -"  
_

_Chase smirked. "Are you threatening me?"  
_

_"No, more like stating a fact."  
_

_"Oh, really?" Chase backed her into the couch and she stumbled when her knees touched the furniture. "Now why would you go and do a thing like that?  
_

_"Chase!"  
_

_"Shh!" he said, covering her mouth with his hand, which she promptly bit down on hard enough to draw blood. "Ow!"  
_

_He yanked his hand away and drew his fist back to hit her. Except for a few occasions, Rebecca hadn't fought back. The night at the falls had been one, this was another. Rebecca didn't like the way he'd been treating her and she wasn't going to take it anymore. She deserved better.  
_

_So she fought, and he ended up hitting her hard enough to make her pass out. She woke up in the hospital and was told she'd had internal damage. A few ribs were broken and she'd had to explain to her parents what had happened. Her father had gotten angry and had wanted her to press charges; her mom had just been supportive of her, had helped her get better.  
_

* * *

Meanwhile, at the boardinghouse, Stefan was getting ready to go to Elena's - they had a double date planned with Matt and Caroline. He thought it would be good for them to get used to each other. Caroline had said the couple dynamics had changed and it was true. Caroline was with Matt now, who used to be with Elena, who was now with Stefan.

Damon waited until after Stefan left to leave himself. Stefan wouldn't have agreed with leaving Sarah alone in the house but Damon needed a break. And alcohol. He'd run out because he'd been drinking non-stop. He wanted to be drunk, that was what he wanted. He also wanted the little girl out of his house. She was getting on his last nerve. Whiny little thing, she was. But she was a child. He had never hurt a child before and he didn't want to start now, not unless it was completely necessary.

Since he needed alcohol, he ended up at the Grill. He got his usual: Bourbon, neat. And, yes, he could be drunk and still do a great babysitting job, so, by necessity, Chelsea was with him.

There was a woman at the end of the bar who he knew only through Rebecca telling him about her. Kelly Donovan, Vicki's absentee mother. She hadn't even come back when Vicki had been attacked or when she'd first gone missing. It was a credit to Damon's personality that he could be in her presence and not feel awkward, given he'd buried her daughter.

"You're new around here," the lady said.

"Oh, on the contrary, I am very old."

"Well,I haven't been gone that long. I would remember someone who looked like you."

"Yeah? Where'd you go?"

"Around, about."

"Been there," Damon said, chuckling bitterly. Roaming around aimlessly sounded good in theory, but it got old and lonely. Not that he would ever admit to being anything other than content with his lot in life.

"Yeah. I was supposed to be interviewing for the bartender's job, but I think the manager blew me off."

"Well, that's not very nice," Damon quipped.

"Last time I was in town I slept with her boyfriend."

"Well, that's not very nice either."

"It happens," Kelly said nonchalantly.

"Yes, it does."

Damon was suddenly very aware why Vicki had turned out the way she had. She'd had Mommy _and_ Daddy issues. He'd gotten the story before Vicki had died. She hadn't known her dad, and then Kelly had never been around. Vicki's life had been pathetic and she hadn't had one hint of self-esteem.

Death had probably been a kindness for her.

"Kelly Donovan?" another voice, female and more familiar, came from behind him, and Kelly's eyes lit up.

"Jen!"

Damon watched Jenna Sommers embrace the woman, and the former said, "She used to baby-sit me."

"And then I used to party with her."

"This woman is crazy!"

"Not as crazy as you," Kelly commented.

"No, not anymore."

"Well, sit, drink."

"Uh, I shouldn't," Jenna said with disappointment. "I'm all responsibly now, haven't you heard?"

"Well, take a night off; it's good for the soul."

"_Great_ for the soul," Damon added.

Damon could tell that Jenna was a little hesitant, being boggled down with the responsibility she was so worried about, but she sat down anyway. They each had a shot of tequila and Jenna shook her head at the taste.

"This is not gonna end well," Jenna said.

"Can't wait," Damon said, smirking and downing another shot.

He only felt a little guilty about leaving Sarah alone. _But_ she knew not to go out in the sun now and she knew where the blood bags were if she needed one. She had anything she might need in the house, and he'd get back before nightfall. Nothing would happen.

* * *

Back at the hospital Rebecca had told Chase not to disturb her aunt. Tina needed all the relaxation she could get, and letting Rebecca's abusive ex-boyfriend in the room would not lead to that. She told her aunt the truth; that someone was looking for Sarah and she was going to help him find her. But she was going to wait until her dad came so her aunt wouldn't be alone.

As soon as Robert got there she left, reluctantly, and went in search of Chase. He was in the waiting room.

"Let's go. My dad _can't_ see you."

Rebecca couldn't help but feel bitter. Why was he here? Okay, so . . . maybe he was telling her the truth. She could understand wanting to be there for Sarah since she was his sister, but . . . Why the sudden change of heart? He hadn't given a damn about anyone but himself before.

"Where're your mom and the man she was with in the picture?"

"Not here," Chase said, and she scoffed. "I . . . they're not coming here. They won't be going anywhere."

His tone revealed what his words had not. The two people were dead. She was sorry even though she didn't like the person she was with. She'd always liked Mrs. Carson. She'd been a sweet woman who had deserved a better son.

"I hate this," Chase said. "This isn't my world. I don't want it."

"Hm. You know, you've got a lot of nerve coming here and seeking me out."

"I know. I'm sorry things worked out that way."

"Right."

Rebecca listened; she always listened, and that was part of her problem sometimes.

"I'm sorry I didn't treat you better.

"Yeah. You know what I'm sorry for? Letting you rule my life for six months."

She was surprised by her own hostility. She hadn't known he still affected her that way. She obviously had unresolved issued with him, probably due to the fact that he'd moved. Yes, she'd broken up with him before that, but since the abuse hadn't stopped with that she hadn't really had any solid closure. She'd always expected him to sneak up on her even after he'd said goodbye.

"I missed you," he said, and . . . she smacked him.

It was good and hard and held the full force of her body behind it. "You don't get to say that to me." Moving on . . . "Did you change your sister? Because she's a vampire now, just so you know."

They reached a black Chevelle with white racing stripes and she realized it was his when he opened the car door for her. She didn't get in immediately. This was how it used to start. He'd be nice and sweet and then came the pain.

She looked him squarely in the eyes. "You didn't answer my question. Who turned Sarah?"

"I don't know. I lost track of her the other night. I scented her out because she'd been hurt, I could smell the blood. I assumed if someone found her they'd bring her here or at least call the police and _they_ would bring her here. That's why I was at the hospital today."

"Hm. You know who I am, so you know I'm not the same defenseless girl I used to be. If you try anything, you'll find I'm a lot more efficient at hurting people than you were."

Chase's blond eyebrows shot up, amused. "Is that a threat?"

"More like a promise," she said. "And I don't break my promises."

"I remember. Now, are you going to get in or not?"

She got in only because she had other things to do and she wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.

* * *

Instead of heading to the boardinghouse, Chase had taken Rebecca to the Grill. Darkness was falling over the town and she stared at him, not liking the fact that it was beginning to get dark.

"What're we doing here?"

"I want some food, some human food. It won't take but a minute. I'll grab it and then we can go. Yeah?"

Rebecca shrugged but began to feel uneasy. "Free country, I guess."

She got out of the car, admiring it properly this time. It was an amazingly beautiful car. It was even shiny; freshly waxed, probably.

She went in and searched out anyone she knew. Matt and Stefan were playing pool and talking; Elena and Caroline were off to the side, also talking. Jenna, Kelly Donovan, and Damon were at the bar, getting smashed - with Chelsea.

Rebecca tensed and groaned. Damon had brought her sister - baby sister - to the bar? Wow. And . . . If both Salvatore brothers were _here,_ then who was with Sarah making sure she didn't hurt anyone? AHH! She wanted to throttle someone, and if she hadn't already had a bigger problem to deal with in the way of Chase, she might have gotten mad at Damon for being so irresponsible. Chelsea didn't deserve to be brought to a bar just so he could drink his fill of alcohol.

Rebecca followed Chase to the bar, where he ordered his food, and she slid smoothly beside Damon, who had a shot of tequila in his hand.

"Hi," she said sweetly. "Whatcha doin'?"

She took the glass from him and downed it herself, grimacing as her throat cried out in protest. Damn, it burned. But it made her tummy feel warm when it settled.

"Well, hello," Damon said. "What're you doing here? Not that I'm not glad to see you."

Jenna smiled drunkenly at Rebecca, and she smiled back. Jenna didn't say anything about Rebecca drinking because she was awesome like that. She'd been a partier back when she'd been younger. Actually, she'd been a partier until her sister and brother-in-law had died. Back before she'd been a parental figure.

"Well, we have a small problem at the boardinghouse and you're here, and Stefan's here, and, well, now _I'm_ here, and no one's there taking care of it." She noticed her voice was strained and, since she knew it wasn't really Damon she was mad at - though he could've waited to get drunk when her sister wasn't with him; she wasn't _that_ much of a burden - she tried to calm down.

"Right . . ."

Damon, however, was in a drunk-I-don't-care mood. Sure, he'd _meant_ to get home before dark, but he hadn't. He'd been having fun, something he hadn't had in a while, something he'd needed.

A youngish blond guy placed a hand on Rebecca's shoulder and Damon saw her whole body tense. An eyebrow shot up. What was that about?

"Food's done. You ready to go? Oh, and, uh, I got you a burger and fries. Hospital food's not good for you."

Rebecca sorely wanted to tell Chase where he could stuff his food, but she didn't.

"In a minute. Go wait in the car."

"Why?" Chase removed his hand. "Private moment?"

"Yup. Uh, Damon, this is Chase Carson. Chase, this is Damon Salvatore. My boyfriend and part owner of the boardinghouse I was going to take you to."

Damon stood up. "Well, I thought I knew all of Rebecca's friends, but I guess not."

"Well, I just got here. Uh, I moved last year, but I'm back now."

"And he's not a friend," Rebecca made clear. "And I thought I told you to go wait in the car."

"You did. I didn't."

Jenna was looking on curiously and Kelly was busy drinking her troubles away. Whatever Rebecca wanted to say, she couldn't say it here.

"Anyway . . . Chase is gonna help us with our problem. Um . . . you gonna come with us?"

Damon looked from Chase to Rebecca and back, trying to figure out what was up with Rebecca. She usually didn't act this way around people. And her eyes were basically _pleading_ with him. She didn't want to be alone with the guy that was standing behind her. If he didn't know any better, he'd think she was scared. But . . . that was ridiculous because his little Slayer wasn't scared of anything.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll come."

"Good. Your car here?"

"Mm-hm."

"Cool. Then Chase can follow us . . . Okay?"

Chase sighed and nodded, then turned to walk outside. She waited for him to leave and then looked at Damon.

"Another drink, _please_!"

He ordered and she took it from him and downed it much like she had the last one, and he had to admit to himself that he was worried. Rebecca had never been driven to drink before.

"Who was that guy?"

She scrunched her nose up and shook her head. "Bad news, that's who he was."

"He was at the hospital with you?"

"Yeah, but not in the room. He just . . . showed up."

Since her drink was gone, she stood up, picked Chelsea up, and Damon followed her. He really had no choice since his heart so much belonged to her. They went to his car and he started the engine. He decided to drive slower than normal so he could get whatever was going on with her out in the open.

"So . . . I'm in need of the back story here."

He looked her in the eye, trying to get an answer that way. She didn't look away but he could tell it was more out of not wanting to hurt him than anything else.

"We knew each other, obviously. We were together . . . and it didn't end well."

"Well, that's really specific," Damon snipped. He didn't understand why she was holding back; she never had before.

"Damon, it's nothing. He's here for Sarah. He's her brother." Rebecca sighed. "I thought he might show up. I was hoping he wouldn't."

"That's not what I wanted to know." Damon felt something he couldn't really put a name to, and he vaguely wondered what Rebecca wasn't saying. So this Chase guy had been her boyfriend before he'd had to move . . . Maybe she still felt something for him?

But no, that couldn't be. Rebecca seemed repulsed by him, so there was nothing good there.

He heard Rebecca's heart speed up and then she began talking. "I was fifteen, almost sixteen, when I met him. Or when he introduced himself to me, anyway. He was eighteen and he'd taken an interest in me. He was handsome, funny, laid-back. He was sweet and I was happy. But I wasn't . . . _really_ happy because I didn't know the real him."

Damon's hands tightened on the steering wheel and his knuckles turned white. He had to focus on not breaking the damn thing.

"Did you love him?"

"No. Not really. I don't love men who hurt me, Damon."

That last part had been said softly, almost meekly, and Damon bit his cheek to keep from cursing. So this Chase guy had hurt Rebecca, huh? And he just happened to be here now? He'd come back. And he'd looked a little too comfortable when he'd placed his hand on Rebecca's shoulder. Rebecca, however, had looked scared or at least startled.

Rebecca didn't say anything else about that, but she watched Damon's eyes. He had the most expressive eyes; she could tell when he was angry just by the color they turned. They were now an electric blue. He was pissed.

"I, um . . . will stop now before you -"

"No, go on." He had to know what this guy had done. It would explain why Rebecca was the way she was, why she put up with some things, but wouldn't put up with others. It would explain why she was with Damon even though he could be a monster if he wanted to be. Or if he had to be. Whichever the situation called for.

"Glutton for punishment," she scolded gently. "You've been around a while, you know how this story goes. I wasn't as strong emotionally or physically back then. He took advantage of that. He liked having power over me; he was a control freak."

Damon's mind flashed back to them in his bed during the Vicki situation; Rebecca had warned him about not trying to control her. He understood why she'd been against him compelling her even for her own good. That was why he'd only done it once.

"It was little things at first. Um . . . arguing all the time. Him blaming me when something bad happened even if I had no connection to it at all. I took it; I was different then. But then the little things got bigger and . . . stuff happened, and I broke up with him. I was . . . _hurt_, and I ended up in the hospital and -"

That was when Damon felt it, the switch in him that made him snap. This Chase guy was as good as dead. As soon as they -

"Damon, don't. I don't trust him, but he might be useful."

"I didn't do anything," Damon said.

"No, but your eyes do this thing when you get angry enough to kill someone. I know you enough to see it."

"He hurt you," Damon said simply, as if there were an unwritten law that if someone hurt someone else, someone that Damon loved, Damon could deal with that person as he saw fit. "He scared you. He's . . . still scaring you. _I_ know _you_ enough to see it."

"It's leftover from before, I guess."

She told him everything Chase had told her - or gave him a summary anyway. He wasn't sure what to make of it. By default he didn't like this guy, but he knew Rebecca was right. He wouldn't kill this guy yet, not until they found out everything he knew.

"But Damon . . . you have to promise not to leave me alone with him. Okay? I broke up with him because he _wanted_ me and I didn't want him. And he didn't care what I wanted . . ."

Damon growled as his mind leaped to the only logical conclusion there was for what she'd just said. Chase had, at some point, tried to force Rebecca to give him what she'd given Damon freely, willingly. Damon was so angry that his face changed without him meaning for it to.

"He's not gonna touch you!" he almost hissed.

No matter what had happened _before_ he wasn't going to leave Chase alone with Rebecca.

"I believe you," Rebecca whispered. "He's a vampire now, Damon . . . everything he felt before - the need to control me, dominate me . . . that's gonna be magnified . . . right?"

Damon didn't answer, but she was right. Unless Chase had seriously changed . . . he was going to try to hurt Rebecca again. If the need had been that strong when he'd been human . . . it would be a hundred times worse now that he was a vampire.

* * *

At the boardinghouse, Rebecca and Damon found that Elena and Stefan had already come back from their date. Maybe something had gone wrong. Chase pulled up behind Damon's Camaro, and the three got out of their cars. Rebecca got Chelsea out of her car seat and went up to Elena's car to tap on the window. The brunette jumped and then glared playfully.

Then Stefan and Elena were stepping out of the vehicle. Elena zeroed in on Chase, and her glare was no longer playful.

"What's he doing back?" she seethed.

Elena had been the one to come pick Rebecca up the night Chase had attacked her at the Falls. Elena hadn't had her license then and could've gotten caught by the police, but she'd come for Rebecca because she'd known Rebecca had been in trouble. Rebecca hadn't been able to keep secret what had happened, and Elena had told her she needed to get away from Chase. Rebecca had tried.

"Long story," Rebecca said, looking at Stefan. "Does she know about Sarah?"

"Yeah, I told her."

"Okay, well, I'll explain later. Right now we have to -"

Rebecca broke off because she wasn't really sure what they had to do. She hated bad surprises. They bugged her. Surprises were supposed to be good. But at least she wasn't alone. Elena knew, Damon now knew. Bonnie, Jeremy, and Matt knew. Caroline hadn't really been a friend to her in her junior year, so Caroline didn't know. But all the people who could protect her, could stop Chase from being alone with her, knew. That was what mattered.

* * *

Meanwhile, with Damon and Chase, Damon was enjoying making Chase uncomfortable. He couldn't kill him yet, so he was toying with him. He had cornered Chase into the side of his car.

"You know, you're a vampire so I don't have to play nice. I'm going to give you the same warning I gave your sister. If you're here for Rebecca, I will kill you. If you hurt her . . . _I will rip your head off_. And I promise that's something I'm very good at. Got it?"

At least the boy had the good sense to be frightened. Leaving him with that thought seemed like a good idea, so Damon made his way to his brother and the two girls. Elena was telling Rebecca about their date and about how some man had called her Katherine. She didn't know him, had never seen him before.

Damon's mind went to Pearl and Anna and the tombed vampires. Obviously one of them was running around town. He couldn't blame Stefan for not making the connection because Stefan didn't know that the vampires were out. Damon hadn't shared that piece of information because there was nothing they could do about it. At best they had himself, Stefan, Rebecca, and maybe the history teacher. Four against twenty-five vampires? Pointless and stupid, and they'd end up dead.

Elena and Stefan had invited Matt and Caroline over, and when Rebecca found out her eyes just about popped out of her head.

"Sarah! She could hurt somebody."

"No, we're all here," Stefan said. "We won't let her hurt anyone. And she needs human interaction to make her feel more normal."

"Only she's not normal," Damon pointed out.

"Not helpful, Damon," Rebecca chided gently. "But I agree."

By then Matt and Caroline were pulling up in Matt's truck and Rebecca was gearing herself up for what was bound to be an eventful night.

"Okay, so . . . we should go make sure Sarah's fed and not feeling homicidal."

Damon put his hand on Rebecca's back and she gestured for Chase, who was still by his car, to follow them. They all went in after Matt and Caroline caught up.

"Man, I've always wanted to see what the inside of this place looked like," Matt said. "Remember we used to think it was haunted."

"Yeah." Rebecca laughed. "So glad it's not."

"My entire house could fit in here, like, twice." Matt was talking about the parlor alone.

Matt hadn't said anything about Chase being there, but he wasn't confrontational by nature. So he was probably waiting to see what would happen before doing anything.

While Matt and Caroline were hanging with Elena and Stefan Damon, Rebecca, and Chase went upstairs. Damon was pretty much waiting for a reason to kill this Chase guy. Granted, he knew he'd treated women badly himself, but he'd never hit them before. He'd snacked on them and, yes, even killed them, but he'd never drawn out pain my resorting to physical violence. Well, unless they were vampires and had attacked him, but that didn't count. He'd never forced himself on a woman either - not that he'd ever needed to, with the way he looked. Rebecca probably wouldn't have been able to love him if he had.

"Sarah! There's someone here to see you," Rebecca called out quietly.

Sarah's door opened and she stepped out. Damon was sort of surprised she'd stayed there without them guarding her, but at least she'd proved she could be a little trustworthy. _Or_ she was scared of him retaliating. One or the other. Either way, she'd stayed put.

Like when Sarah had seen Rebecca, there was a note of recognition when the girl saw Chase, but that was it.

Damon noticed Rebecca was as uncomfortable as he'd ever seen her. And again he wanted to kill Chase for making her that way, because _this_ was not his Rebecca. This was who she'd been before Damon had come into her life, before he'd shown her the way she deserved to be treated. This Rebecca was a shell of herself. Scared and nervous, shaky even. Rebecca's hands were trembling and her back was tense underneath his hands.

Damon idly thought of how he would kill Chase when the time came. Rip his head off like he'd threatened, or maybe rip his heart out. That would be poetic justice, Damon thought, because he felt as if _his_ heart was being ripped out just by watching the way Rebecca was acting around her former boyfriend.

"You know, the others are still downstairs if you wanna go hang out with them," Damon offered his suffering girlfriend. "I can take care of this."

Rebecca relaxed slightly and smiled with obvious relief. "Yeah, okay. I can't stay long, though, because I still have to go train."

"Need the car?"

"Yes, please."

He handed her the keys and she placed a quick kiss on his cheek. "I'll be back in a few hours. I have to check in with my dad first, but after that . . ."

"Got it." Damon glanced at Chase, who seemed to be observing them curiously. "Don't stop or get out of the car until you get to Diana's, okay?"

"Yup."

Damon had noticed, with some satisfaction, that Chase had looked irritated that Rebecca had basically ignored him. And the irritation had flared to full blown anger when Rebecca had kissed Damon. Chase looked a little confused when Rebecca handed Chelsea to Damon. He was probably thinking Rebecca shouldn't trust a vampire with her baby sister. But Damon would never hurt Chelsea. He had taken her in as his own.

* * *

When Rebecca got downstairs she saw Matt was looking at a display case of painted collector's cars. A little hobby of Stefan's.

"You like cars?" Stefan asked.

"Understatement."

Stefan smiled and gestured for the rest of them to follow him. They did, out to the garage. There were two separate car slots; Stefan's and Damon's. Inside was an old 1950's Porsche. Red with silver trimmings.

"How do you have this?" Matt asked in awe.

"It got passed down through the family," Stefan answered smoothly.

"Well, why don't you drive it?"

"Well, uh, it doesn't run. I mean, at least not that I could figure out."

"Why would you keep a car that doesn't run?" Caroline asked, and Rebecca smiled.

"Could you be more of a girl right now?" Matt teased. "This is an amazing car. It's a classic."

Rebecca preferred Damon's Camaro herself, or even Chase's Chevelle, but she could appreciate Stefan's tastes too. Stefan let Matt take a look at the engine, and Rebecca listened to the guys' conversation about building engines and such. Rebecca knew Matt was a brilliant mechanic; he loved working on cars.

"Well, I don't like sports cars," Caroline said. "They're too hard to make out in."

"No, it wasn't that bad," Matt countered, looking at Elena.

Things got really awkward, and then Carline walked out of the garage. Rebecca shared a look with Elena, and Rebecca decided she would try first before asking for reinforcements. After all, if it was Damon who was in love with Elena, Rebecca wouldn't want to be around Elena right now. So Rebecca followed Caroline out to the edge of the garage building. Caroline had her arms crossed over her chest and she was sulking.

"Care? It was one little sentence."

"No, he's still in love with Elena and I'm always the backup."

"What?"

"I'm Matt's Elena backup; I'm Elena's Bonnie backup."

"Care, that's not true. Matt and Elena have a history, but that's in the . . . in the past." Rebecca shook her head. "History _is_ the past, I guess, but you know what I'm saying. And also . . . you know that old adage about other people not liking you until you learn to like yourself? Well, it holds true here, Care. As long as you keep acting like a backup, people are going to keep treating you like one."

Caroline didn't find that the least bit helpful. "So you're saying I'm being insecure and stupid?"

"Not stupid. I don't think you're stupid -" Maybe a little air-headed sometimes, though "- but you are being insecure." Rebecca wrapped her blond friend in a hug and Caroline responded immediately. "We love you anyway, Care. We all get a little messed sometimes. You just need to remember the only reason Matt is here is because you asked him to be. Not Elena, _you_. You wanted this so he went along with it."

Stefan, Elena, and Matt came out of the garage and Stefan ended up letting Matt take Caroline out for a spin in the Porsche. Caroline seemed happier.

"If it's not vampires, it's girlfriends," Elena said, leaning in close to Stefan for comfort.

"Speaking of . . . what are we gonna do about the one who called you Katherine?" Rebecca asked.

She wondered how anyone knew Katherine and Elena looked alike. It was too much of a coincidence that someone who knew Katherine would just show up. Now, anyway.

"We'll deal with it tomorrow," Elena said. "We need to get through one normal night, okay?"

"If that's what you want," Rebecca said. "But . . . that seems kind of unrealistic to me. Since you're dating a vampire."

Rebecca _had_ to point that out because sometimes . . . sometimes Rebecca thought that Elena didn't get that, or didn't remember or something. She'd understood when Elena had first found out, but Elena had had plenty of time to accept it. And if . . . if Elena wanted normal, she shouldn't be with Stefan, that was for sure. Though Stefan was in denial about who he was, too, so maybe they were the perfect match.

Whatever. That was a question to ponder on a different day. Neither Elena nor Stefan commented on the truth of Rebecca's statement so she smiled, satisfied.

"Anyway, I have to go train, so . . . Bye." At Damon's car, she shouted a "Bye, Damon" toward the house and then she was gone.

* * *

Inside, Damon heard Rebecca and he shook his head, smiling softly. His girlfriend was the strangest little human. He probably would've come to like her even without the time traveling spell.

Sarah was asleep in bed. She'd had three blood bags that day, which he had to admit wasn't bad for a new vampire. With the way she'd been snapping he'd been considering trying her on the Stefan diet, but that would've been cruel. The girl, being young and tiny, needed all the strength she could get.

Now that she was asleep, Damon had tried getting Chase to make some kind of mistake, to reveal what he was here for. But Chase wasn't budging. So either the guy was a really good actor or he was telling the truth.

By that time Stefan had shown Elena, Matt and Caroline out. So Damon went downstairs and groaned when he remembered he didn't have any liquor. He'd have to get some in the morning. Since he was downstairs he kept an ear out for movement upstairs. Sarah or Chase. Chelsea had a room upstairs that Damon had set up for her - well, mostly all he'd done was take the mattress off the bed and moved it to the floor so she wouldn't hurt herself if she happened to fall off of it - but since they had two vampire guests Chelsea wasn't leaving his side. She had a little sleeping area in one of the rooms downstairs - no one could get by him to get to her.

He eavesdropped on Stefan and Elena, who were still out front.

_"I wish you'd let me drive you home,"_ Stefan said.

_"Normal people don't have chaperones or bodyguards or babysitters,"_ Elena pointed out. _"We're normal tonight, remember?"_

_"I know, I just get so worried about you."_

_Ugh! _His brother and Elena were so sickeningly sweet he might actually puke. And vampires didn't do that. He sincerely hoped he and Rebecca weren't like that. Except for those three little words he still had trouble saying sometimes . . . they never really said mushy stuff. They were more the showing-you-care type because, as Rebecca put it . . . words were just that; words.

When Stefan came back inside he sat beside Damon on the couch. "Rebecca stole your car."

"She's coming back."

"So . . . This Chase guy is Sarah's brother."

"Yup."

"Elena and Rebecca don't like him."

"He is . . . an abusive bastard," Damon commented stoically.

"Abusive?" Stefan shook his head. "Rebecca? She doesn't put up with abuse."

"Not anymore." Damon shrugged noncommittally but arched his eyebrows in agreement. He really wished he had a glass of bourbon. Or, hell, he'd take a beer. Just something to create a buzz. His earlier buzz was already gone due to the ass hat of a guy named Chase that was now in his house upstairs with Sarah.

Huh . . . Maybe they would kill each other and solve the problem themselves.

"And . . . he's not . . . dead? He's still breathing air?"

Stefan seemed shocked. Damon understood because a few short weeks ago he was the kill first, ask question _never_ type of person. And now . . .

"Rebecca asked you not to?"

"Pretty much, and I can listen - for now." Damon shrugged. "I told him if he hurt her he's a goner. It happened before. As long as he doesn't hurt her now, we're good."

Because that was what Rebecca seemed to want.

"I think you're getting wise in your old age, Damon," Stefan quipped.

Damon chuckled a few times. "Yeah, right. Today at least."

"Well, one step at a time." Stefan stood up then and stood there looking awkward. He obviously wanted to say something.

"Spit it out, Stef."

"Uh . . . don't say anything until I'm done, okay?"

Damon nodded.

"I'm sorry. It's 145 years too late, but I am sorry for forcing you to turn. I've always been sorry, but I've never said it out loud. And now I am."

Damon could tell Stefan was being sincere, and Damon didn't make any snippy comment. He couldn't. Not about this. It was too important a milestone, for both of them, to make fun of.

"I need you to know the reason I did it."

Damon waited.

"I didn't want to be alone forever. It was selfish of me, but I needed my brother. I didn't stop to think that it might make you hate me . . . forever."

"Irony is ironic that way."

"Yeah." Stefan smiled softly. "I know things can't be the way they were when we were human. Too much has happened. Too much time has passed and we're different than we were then. But we're still brothers and I want to start acting like it again. No lies, no tricks. I'm telling you the truth."

Damon swallowed back the emotion that wanted to come forth. He hated being vulnerable or open with Stefan. They both had taken advantage of the others weaknesses before and he didn't want to give Stefan the chance to do it again now. But, despite Damon's words and actions, he had missed being close to his brother. He'd spent the last 145 years following him, making him miserable, because Damon hadn't wanted to be alone either.

He'd also spent the last 145 years making sure Stefan had survived. He had never let Stefan die. He'd never let anyone take advantage of the fact that Stefan was weaker than other vampires because of Stefan's conscience. His very simple rouse of wanting to make Stefan suffer had fooled his brother because Damon was very good at making Stefan miserable when he wanted to be.

"And I'm happy you've found something to live for . . . with Rebecca."

Damon shrugged and stood up too. "Yeah, well, that was definitely over dramatically done, brother, but . . . I agree we should try and put the past behind us."

Stefan smiled softly, uncertainly. "I've heard that before."

"Yeah, well, I actually mean it this time."

Damon knew Stefan was talking about when he'd first arrived in Mystic Falls. Damon had said something along the lines of what he'd just said but then he'd laughed in Stefan's face afterward, He couldn't help it. At the time, he'd been fresh out of hope for renewing their brotherhood. He still didn't have much hope for it, actually, but he could see that Stefan wasn't trying to play him. Not this time.

They were just about to shake on it when two vampires smashed through one of the living room windows. Damon knew them. Fredrick and Bethanne, two of the tombed vampires. They were obviously not here just to catch up, because Fredrick went straight for Stefan and knocked him to the ground. Fredrick stabbed Stefan with a sharp piece of glass from the window he and Bethanne had crashed through, and Damon grabbed Fredrick and tossed him on the floor, away from Stefan.

Damon figured his brother would be okay since it had only been glass he'd been stabbed with, so he focused on fighting. He couldn't let himself be distracted because both of them would end up dead. So he exchanged blows with Fredrick. He didn't really care why they'd come here, he just knew they weren't there to make peace. Which was okay because Damon wasn't in a peaceful mood. He'd been wanting to kill something all night, and now he could - he even had a legitimate reason.

After a strong battle of wills, Damon tossed Fredrick toward the fireplace. The vampire landing in front of it and Damon was able to focus on other things now. A chair in the corner was smashed and one of the wooden legs had been used to kill Bethanne.

Fredrick saw Bethanne, Damon knew, and the former took off. Obviously he knew the odds were against him. Damon hadn't seen even a hint of remorse in Fredrick's eyes even though Fredrick and Bethanne had been together for centuries, even before they'd been locked in the tomb.

"Damn it," Damon muttered.

"I remember them. From 1864," Stefan said, clutching his still wounded chest. "They were in the tomb."

"Yeah . . ." Damon drew the word out. "About that . . ."

Damon was good at schooling his features to show only what he wanted others to see, but . . . he knew he looked at least a little guilty at the moment.

"Obviously the seal is no longer up at the tomb," Stefan deduced. "How long have you known?"

"Yesterday. I didn't think they were gonna attack us or I would've said something."

Damon then told Stefan about Pearl's request and how he wasn't going to comply. It just wasn't in his nature to help people he didn't like. Especially people he didn't like who _demanded_ his help. He also told Stefan that Anna was going to help control the situation because she'd promised Rebecca she'd help if this exact thing happened.

"That was one of the conditions Anna agreed to when Rebecca offered to help free Pearl from the tomb."

"Because she knew we'd be in trouble if this happened," Stefan added. "She covers her bases, that's for sure."

"Yup. My girlfriend, the not so diabolical mastermind."

Stefan chuckled and, for a second, Damon felt the last 145 years fall away and they were brothers again. Light footsteps sounded on the stairs and the moment was broken. Sarah had obviously heard the racket and had come to investigate.

"What happened?"

"We were attacked,"Stefan said.

Sarah's eyes went from Stefan to Damon to the body on the floor and back to Stefan.

"You're hurt," she commented, staring at the bloodstain on Stefan's shirt.

"I'll live."

Sarah glanced at the body, all gray and mummified. "What happened to her?"

"Well, that's what happens when a vampire dies," Damon explained. "Wood is not your friend."

"Oh."

Sarah was frozen on the bottom step. Damon could tell she didn't know what she was expected to do. Should she go back to bed or stay down here?

"Go get dressed," he said softly. "You have to learn what to do, how to cover your tracks."

Something told him that Chase wasn't going to help her. If he was here for Rebecca - if Chase was obsessed with Rebecca, for whatever reason - then Chase wouldn't waste time with his sister. He probably . . . Hell, Chase was probably the one to change Sarah in the first place. He would've known that Rebecca wouldn't have just left Sarah to die, and there was his opening right there to get close to Rebecca.

"You're gonna teach me?" Sarah asked, caught between being excited and being nervous.

"A little," Damon said. Then he smirked. "Unless you want Stefan to get you some Bambi blood."

"Ew." She grinned. "I'll be back in a minute."

"Come on, you can do better than that," he teased.

Her brown eyes sparkled with amusement and she ran back upstairs.

Stefan was now on the phone with Elena - she'd called to tell him she'd gotten home safe. Stefan didn't tell her about the tomb vampires, and Damon didn't blame him. Elena couldn't do anything about it.

Damon, though, had to make a call of his own.

* * *

Rebecca was in the middle of a roundhouse kick when her cell phone rang. She groaned at the interruption and gave Diana a sheepish grin; she knew Diana despised the contraption. Dana had once told her that she was sure that cell phones had been invented by a coven or bored warlocks. Rebecca had laughed it off, of course.

"Yeah?" she answered after she saw Damon's name on the ID screen.

"Do you still have that key to the incinerator room at the funeral home?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Two vampires broke into the house. I need the key."

"Uh, okay. I'll finish up here, fast, and I'll be right there."

"'Kay."

"Was anyone hurt?" Rebecca asked, and saw Diana look at her with an _almost_ concerned expression.

"Nope, not really. One of them stabbed Stefan with a piece of glass, but that's not our poison so he'll be fine."

"Good. See you soon."

She hung up and looked at Diana.

"Everything okay?" the watcher asked.

"Mm-hm. Uh, boyfriend drama. Someone broke into his house."

"He's okay?"

"Yup. No trauma."

"Good. You need to go?"

"Yes. I'll be back early tomorrow, I promise. To make up for today."

"No need." Diana smiled, though it seemed strained. "Same time."

Diana then handed her a book about crystals. She'd said Rebecca might need it someday and they were starting, already, to identify them. Rebecca had had to find the flaw in an amethyst during their training session that day. Though she didn't mind this new, more relaxing, form of training, she didn't understand the need for it.

That was probably why she was the Slayer and not a Watcher. And besides, studying wasn't all bad. Rebecca had grown tired and sore during her physical training. She blamed it on everything piling up at once; it was enough to throw anyone off their game.

* * *

Okay, so I threw a few memories of Chase in there for you. I did it to help set the mood for what their relationship was like. Also . . . I really didn't know how Damon would react. Damon in the show probably would've killed him off of principle alone, but this Damon . . . he's a little different obviously because he has the girl he wants.

Let me know what you think!


	45. Chapter 40

This picks up right where the last chapter left off. Damon had just called Rebecca for the key to the incinerator room.

Chapter Forty

After Rebecca got to the boardinghouse she took in the parlor room and chuckled a few times. A window was shattered, a chair was broken, and a body was on the floor. It wasn't funny, but she chuckled nonetheless.

"I swear, I leave you alone for a few hours and things start to go to hell," she teased.

"In a hand basket," Damon quipped.

Humor was how Damon and Rebecca got through things. Some people dealt with things by talking about them; other people made jokes about things. Damon and Rebecca were of the latter group.

Damon enclosed her hand in his and pulled her forward. Strong arms encircled her and his mouth found hers. Neither Stefan nor Sarah were there right at that moment, so she didn't mind participating a little. His lips were warm and searching; hers were tender and insistent. She parted her lips and his hands tightened around her. She read it for the possessive move that it was, but she accepted it willingly. She'd known Chase being here wouldn't just worry her; it would worry Damon as well. And the way he was kissing her right now told her that he wasn't going to let Chase hurt her.

She was his and he was going to protect her. She was safe with him. Homicidal vampire or not; he was _her_ homicidal vampire.

"Mm." She pulled away reluctantly. "This is nice. Too bad it has to be broken up because of the body there."

"Well, we can always pick it up later." He smirked and she smiled.

"Definitely." Her smile faded slightly. "Chase can't stay here, Damon. I don't care if he is Sarah's brother. I mean, tonight is fine, but no more, okay? There are hotels in town, he can stay there. Not here. I feel safe here. I don't want him to take that away from me."

"Agreed," Damon said. Then, "Sarah, we're ready!"

Rebecca gave him a confused expression. "She's coming with us?"

"She's gotta learn somehow."

Rebecca's smile was radiant and she gave him another lingering kiss. Damon wanted to forget about the body for now and carry Rebecca to bed, but he knew he couldn't. He needed to be responsible now. It wasn't fun at all, but he couldn't expect Rebecca to take care of this on her own.

"Where's Chelsea?" Rebecca asked, looking around. "After a fight like that, I though you wouldn't want her out of your sight."

"I didn't, but we have work to do. Stefan is gonna . . . babysit."

* * *

Damon, Rebecca and Sarah went to the funeral home and it didn't take long for Bethanne to become a pile of ashes.

"Did they say what they wanted?" Rebecca asked on their way out, making a mental note to call Liz the next day to tell her they'd used the incinerator.

"Nope."

Rebecca bit her lip, now bringing up something she'd meant to at the house but had been too distracted to do. "That was . . . someone from 1864."

Damon nodded. "Most of the tomb vampires are out, some are shacking up with Pearl and Anna outside of town. Anna's . . . trying to control the situation."

"Hm . . ." Rebecca realized that the fact that the tomb vampires were no longer tombed coincided with the new vampire feeding area in the park. She'd recognized the ones that had been feeding when she'd been attacked, and now she knew why. "You said two vampires broke in . . ."

"Fredrick was the other one."

Rebecca grimaced. "He attacked me in 1864. Or tried. I was stronger than him."

Before Damon could respond, Sarah said, "You couldn't have lived in 1864. You're human."

Rebecca smiled. In normal circumstances that would've been true, but . . . Their circumstances were far from normal.

"It's a long story. I'll explain it to you someday."

* * *

Back at the boardinghouse now, Rebecca was getting ready for bed. She was still tired and a little sore, but she'd been thinking about that kiss with Damon since it had happened and she wanted to start where they had left off. She stood in front of the mirror and brushed her silky locks. She was in her bra and underwear, a crimson lace set that she was sure Damon would appreciate.

As if on cue . . . Damon stepped into the room and they locked eyes before he strode toward her, confident and relaxed. He had an almost feline grace about him . . . a panther stalking its prey. His patented leather jacket had already been removed and his shirt was unbuttoned, showing off his chest and abs.

She flushed as she took in his intense gaze as he admired her body. Self-conscious now, even though he'd told her she never had to be with him - and usually she wasn't - she felt the odd need to cover herself. She figured it was due to the fact that she'd never _waited_ in his room for him half-naked before.

Damon was behind her now and he rested on her shoulders and played with the straps of her bra. Their eyes were still locked even through the mirror, and she shivered as he bent his dark head and kissed the curve of her neck. She let out a small gasp because, even though he was a vampire - or maybe _because_ of it - she loved when he kissed her neck. He smiled against her because he knew she loved it, too.

She couldn't stop looking at him; she was hypnotized even though she had vervain in the necklace around her neck. Damon slid his hand around her waist from behind and pulled until her back was pressed firmly against his hard chest. His arm tightened as he moved from her neck to her ear, and his other hand slid to her breast, where he caressed possessively.

Damon was doing this on purpose, of course. Teasing her, making her tremble. He loved leaving her breathless with desire. He knew how to push her buttons and he did it often. He turned her in his arms and kissed her again, this time on the lips, and she responded, throwing her arms around his neck to hold him there. She always did that like he was hers to lose when it was completely the other way around. He was completely committed; he wasn't going anywhere - not as long as she wanted him there.

He picked her up, their mouths still connected, and moved to the bed. He unclasped the bra before laying her down, but he didn't remove the offensive thing yet. He looked at her with heavy-lidded eyes and saw her smiling softly at him. Then he slid his fingers under the straps and slid them down her shoulders.

Damon wasn't sure what it was exactly, but she seemed . . . fragile; he wasn't sure why. It was just a weird feeling he was getting from her. He would have to be more careful tonight. He wasn't certain how he knew that; he just did.

Rebecca watched as Damon stood up and removed his clothing, and she shimmied out of her panties. She noticed that her desire had soaked through onto her panties and she blushed. Damon smirked at her, though, obviously knowing where her mind was.

As soon as he was in the bed, he laid on his side and caressed her cheek. Rebecca was enjoying this because she loved being treated like this. With Damon, it was a gift that wasn't shared with just anyone, and for him to give it to _her_ felt amazing.

She turned her head until her lips touched his palm, and then she covered his hand with hers. Damon's breath hitched at the tender gesture and then he was kissing her again, requesting entrance with his tongue. He plunged and retreated, plunged and retreated.

_Well, that's a very suggestive rhythm_, Rebecca thought wryly, pressing herself closer to him.

Damon rolled her onto her back and covered a breast with his hand. He teased her nipple until it stood firm against his palm. He moved his lips from her mouth to her neck to her other breast, nuzzling until she cried out softly. She tangled her fingers into his hair and she arched her back as his hands began exploring with reverence.

Already she was yearning for him to fill her, but Damon was patient tonight. He was loving tonight. He was taking care of her tonight. He was proving that he wasn't Chase, that he would never treat her that way. He would never intentionally hurt her, physically or otherwise.

He kissed her stomach, his lips going lower, his tongue drawing figure eights on her skin. But when he got to the apex of her thighs he didn't do what she thought he would, what she wanted him to do. He made his way back up her body, smirking and reveling in the sounds of her shuddering breath and speeding heart.

"You're a tease, Damon Salvatore," she gasped.

He chuckled. "You love me anyway."

He was amazed how easily the words came to him, how sure he was that she did indeed love him. In an extremely rare and tender moment, he placed her hand over his violently beating heart to let her _feel_ what she did to him. He let his heart tell her what words could not. He loved her, too, so therefore his heart belonged to her.

Rebecca's emerald eyes shined with love and she brought him down for another kiss. He eased himself between her legs. His length was positioned at her entrance and she lifted her hips to take him in. She could tell Damon was hesitating and she didn't know why.

"What's wrong?"

"Something's different about you . . ." Damon took a deep breath. "I mean, it's not bad, it's just . . ."

She giggled. "Just . . ."

"You'd tell me if something was wrong, right?"

"Of course."

She locked a leg around him and pulled. He smirked at her impatience.

"Regaining focus . . ." he said softly.

"Good."

He eased into her, going as deep as her body would allow, and relaxed when nothing seemed amiss. He still kept his movements slow and deliberate. Rebecca moved with him and molded their bodies together. She smiled as if she knew he was holding back and Damon felt her warmth clasp around him once. His rhythm stuttered and he cursed. She giggled and did it again.

_Fine then_, he thought, and grasped her thighs tightly, deciding he didn't need to be as careful as he was being. She obviously wanted it faster and harder.

If the _yes_ she breathed out was any indication, it was exactly what she'd wanted. He drove into her again and again with sharp, short thrusts. Her head began tossing from side to side, and then he felt her clench, this time from her orgasm and not as a form of pleasurable torture.

The instant her spasms stopped he began reaching for his own release. He was surprised when she flipped them so he was on the bottom.

As Rebecca stared down at him she laughed because it took a lot to surprise Damon Salvatore. She supported herself against his chest and began moving slowly. So slowly, in fact, that Damon grasped her hips and moved her at a pace _he_ was happy with.

"Not fair," she moaned, though she seemed to be enjoying it as well.

If they hadn't been so caught up in each other, one of them would've noticed that Damon was able to move Rebecca way to easily. He usually had to use at least a little strength, especially if he was working against her, but now there was barely any effort to it.

Every time Rebecca went up she tightened herself around him and watched Damon's face become open from the pleasure. His eyes were most open and vulnerable right before he had an orgasm. She didn't know why, but that was how it was.

It wasn't until he was coming that she realized something was wrong. He wasn't holding on any harder than he normally would but it was hurting her now. She grabbed at his fingers and tried to remove them from her skin. Tears pricked her eyes and she bit her lip to keep from crying out from the pain.

"Damon, you're hurting me," she whispered.

Even through the pleasure, Damon heard _those_ words and released her from his grip. He didn't understand what was different, but now he knew his earlier worries had not been unfounded. His brain was not functioning on the highest level at the moment, admittedly, but he still saw the already angry hand-shaped bruises on her hips and on her thighs where he'd been gripping her earlier.

Bruises from him again. And during sex, too.

It wasn't until after he'd come down from his climax that he realized, if she was bruising so easily, that something was wrong with her Slayer thing.

Rebecca grunted as she moved off of him and realized she was really sore - like losing-her-virginity sore. And she noticed Damon had tensed exponentially. He was breathing heavily when she looked down at him. Damon's manhood was tinged with pink.

Was that . . . blood? No, that couldn't be. They'd had rougher sex without her bleeding so . . . it was just her eyes playing tricks on her.

"What's wrong with you?" Damon wondered out loud.

"I don't know. I - I . . . I was feeling weird earlier when I was training. I thought I was just tired. I don't have any strength either, Damon. I know because I was trying to move your hands."

Damon didn't know what to think. Something had obviously triggered this. Something . . . then it hit him, what had been different earlier. It took her bleeding for him to figure it out, but she smelled different. Not bad, just different.

"Give me your wrist," he commanded in a harsher voice than he'd intended.

She looked confused, but she did it anyway. He wasn't going to drink from her, not now, but he did use his fangs to cut a small enough opening for blood to come out of. She even tasted different. Someone was drugging her. There was some kind of sedative or muscle relaxant in her system.

His immediate thought was _Chase_. He'd been in the hospital all day with Rebecca. No matter what the guy said he wanted, Damon was sure he was up to something. And anybody with just a little bit of experience could've broken into the dispensary in the hospital, taken whatever they wanted, and gotten out easily - and Chase had the advantage of being a vampire.

He let go of Rebecca's wrist, pulled on his jeans, and left the room. He knew Rebecca would follow after she was decent, so he sped out of bed. Chase barely had his eyes open before he was shoved against the wall.

"Dude!" Chase exclaimed, shocked. "What the hell!?"

"I am giving you just enough air to talk," Damon said, grabbing Chase's neck. "Don't waste it by lying. Now, why're you really here?"

"Sarah's my sister!"

"I don't believe y -"

"Damon!" Rebecca was in the doorway in his shirt and nothing else - he knew because he could smell the unfiltered scent of her recent arousal and the slight scent of her blood. He couldn't believe he'd let himself hurt her that way. And if Damon could smell it, then so could Chase and that pissed Damon off. Her blood and her arousal was not for him. "He couldn't have done it, let him go."

"You weren't with anyone else who would've done it."

Rebecca knew that was true. None of the people she'd been with would've betrayed her by drugging her. Not her dad or her friends, and not even Diana; so that left only Chase, but she didn't think he'd do that either. He'd always been more direct with his games.

"I don't even know what you're talking about," Chase said, grabbing Damon's arm. "Let me go."

Rebecca bit her lip, torn between thinking Chase wouldn't do that and thinking maybe he would. He had been an abusive bastard, but he had never done anything like this before.

She stayed outside the room and let Damon decide what to do. It wasn't like she could stop him right now, with her strength having diminished and all. She knew if Chase had done this, Damon would kill him without blinking and she would let him.

"He's talking about drugging me, Chase. Did you do that?"

"Why would I do that? What would I gain from that?"

"You'd have her nice and defenseless like she used to be," Damon pointed out.

Rebecca chose not to be insulted by that. She _had_ been defenseless when she'd been with Chase. But it hadn't occurred to her until Damon pointed it out that Chase might want that.

While Damon was deciding what to do, it started storming. Thunder echoed through the house and lightning lit up the room. Damon realized he really didn't have any proof that Chase had been the one to fill Rebecca with the drugs. Not that he needed proof to kill this guy, but he had agreed not to kill him yet, so . . . he reluctantly let Chase go but promised himself he would watch him very closely. Truth was . . . he _wanted_ a reason to kill Chase. There was just something about him that made Damon itch, and it had nothing to do with Rebecca.

Rebecca, who was hurt right now and needed him to heal her. He was cursing himself for not listening to his instincts earlier; he shouldn't have let himself go like that. He'd _felt_ that something was off and he hadn't trusted himself. He steeled himself for what was bound to be a very awkward experience.

"Come on," he told Rebecca when he reached her.

She followed him willingly, and when they got to his room again he asked her how hurt she was - Rebecca _would not _complain and she wouldn't say anything unless she was asked first.

Damon made sure that there was no permanent damage where his hands had been, and there wasn't. There were bruises, but nothing was broken. She was no longer bleeding from their lovemaking session, but she was still sore and, from the feel of her, swollen from him going so fast.

"I'm sorry," he said. More like whispered. "I never meant to hurt you like that."

He was being sincere, Rebecca could tell, and . . . he'd never apologized to her before. Not as a vampire, anyway. But he was apologizing now because he really hadn't meant to do any of this. And he hadn't known it would happen, but he was still beating himself up over it, because it was her.

"I know you didn't," she said. "I don't know what's happening with me, but I know you wouldn't do this on purpose."

She locked eyes with him as he used a fingernail to cut the small area on his neck where his pulse was. Blood flowed out and left a small trail that went toward his chest. She didn't hesitate; she quickly licked up the blood and closed her mouth over his wound and slowly began to suck.

Sometime during the night Chelsea started wailing. Thunder had woken her up and she'd been in Stefan's room. As soon as Damon went to get her she was fine.

* * *

It was still raining Tuesday morning. Rebecca woke up to a very faint banging noise and followed it downstairs to where Damon was boarding up the window that had been broken - apparently the rain had been coming in.

Elena, Stefan, and Sarah were in the parlor as well - and Rebecca took notice that Damon had made a play area for Chelsea. Rebecca's sister was playing with a stuffed animal while staring at Damon. Well, the hammer in Damon's hand, anyway. Chelsea was probably fascinated by the noise it was making.

Damon never got credit for what he did, but he never made a fuss about it either. Damon knew that somehow, someway, he'd do something bad that would overshadow what good he'd done. It seemed only Rebecca was able to see the good as well as the bad. And she wasn't going to ignore the good he'd done just because he messed up sometimes.

Rebecca didn't know where Chase was, but he wasn't here with Sarah. She didn't care as long as he hadn't been killed. They still needed answers from him.

Rebecca had come down in the middle of a discussion about what to do about the tomb vampires, and Damon chose the obvious plan of action . . .

"I say we break in and annihilate the idiot that attacked us last night."

Normally Rebecca would've agreed that taking care of the problem directly was best, but they didn't have the power to stir up trouble. Not now. They were severely outnumbered. And it occurred to her then that _this_ was probably what Anna had wanted to talk to her about, but had been too distracted by helping Sarah to get around to it.

"Yeah?" Stefan asked. "Then what? We turn to the rest of the house of vampires and say "Oops, sorry."

Rebecca grinned because she could see Damon doing just that. Damon had a habit of acting impulsively, not worrying about the consequences until after he'd already done something.

Elena was not in a good mood, Rebecca noticed. She understood that, though, because learning that the vampires had gotten out of the tomb wasn't a good thing to wake up to.

"So, what're we going to do?"

"Damon and I are gonna handle everything," Stefan claimed.

"Well, what about me?" Elena asked. "I can't just sit here and do nothing."

Rebecca rolled her eyes at Elena's endless need to participate. Granted, Rebecca knew that she wouldn't know what it was like being on the outside because Rebecca hadn't had a choice in the matter, but she was helpless _now_ and felt no need to contribute anything because she knew right now she was a liability - she would be more than useless in a fight; she would be in the way, actually.

Elena seemed to think that she was immortal because she was dating a vampire, like she wouldn't get hurt. There were a lot of little things that Rebecca had taken notice of since she'd become the Slayer.

"That's exactly what you're gonna do because that's what's gonna keep you safe," Stefan commented.

"Which means nothing if you're not safe," Elena countered.

_Then_ Rebecca thought of something that made her grimace. "Bonnie doesn't know, does she? I mean . . ."

"Uh, actually, I told her," Elena said. "I thought she should know."

"Huh. Uh, if they had starved into desiccation . . . how did they move to get out?" Rebecca asked.

"It would only take one to get out and bring blood back," Stefan pointed out, and Rebecca nodded.

"Point taken. And one of them did bite me that night."

"And your blood is stronger than normal people blood," Damon commented. "Most of the time."

Sarah was silent though the entire conversation. She probably didn't know what to do, young as she was. Rebecca felt sorry for her, she really did - all of this was happening so quickly for the young girl.

"Uh . . ." Rebecca cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Elena, can you give me and Chelsea a ride home? We should leave the guys to it. They can probably plan better without us distracting them all day."

"I have to hunt, anyway," Stefan said. "Guy did a number on me when he stabbed me last night. I gotta get my strength back up."

"I have two liters of soccer mom in the fridge," Damon offered. "No?"

Elena shook her head, but Rebecca bit her lip to keep from laughing. Damon was always making fun of Stefan's diet and, fortunately, Stefan usually chose not to be offended. That was why Rebecca laughed; if it had caused problems it wouldn't have been funny.

Rebecca and Elena each said good-bye to their respective boyfriend - Damon told Rebecca to take it easy. She agreed whole-heartedly even though she was still supposed to train that day.

"After Stefan and I take care of the guy who broke in here last night I'll come get you and take you there. Diana can wait for a couple of hours, okay?"

"Yeah."

Rebecca knew Damon was just worried about her new no-Slayer-strength thing. She had to admit she was a little stressed about that herself. It was frustrating to have been drugged and not know who had done it.

"Both of you be careful," Rebecca said to the brothers. "And Sarah, we'll teach you to fight soon enough, but don't interfere with this one, okay?"

"Yeah. Don't have to tell me twice."

Rebecca kissed Damon on the cheek quickly and he returned the gesture to both Rebecca and Chelsea - Chelsea had demanded it. She'd actually said the word 'kiss' and it had been too cute to ignore. She'd seen them kiss and then had reached for Damon and said the word. Rebecca had grinned and Damon had given in even though he hadn't wanted Stefan to see him do it.

Rebecca left with Elena and she got a text from Jeremy while in the car - he wanted her to meet him and Anna at the Grill.

_Sorry, can't. Spent the night with Damon, heading home now._

_Vixen_, he responded with a smiley face.

Rebecca rolled her eyes but kept up the conversation anyway.

"So . . . Chase is back," Elena said as an opening for what was probably destined to be a stressful conversation.

"Yeah."

"Have you noticed . . . your pattern with men? Chase, abusive; Tyler, aggressive and horny; Damon, homicidal vampire. It's not healthy."

"Stay out of it, Elena," Rebecca said firmly. "I don't make comments on your love life, don't comment on mine. I don't care what quarrels you have with Damon. Okay? He turned your mom because she asked him to, and, yes, he indulges in fresh human blood every now and then, but it's mine most of the time, so . . . I really don't see how it's any of your concern. And FYI, I doubt he knew Isobel was your mother when he did what he did. It wasn't like he thought, "Well, ya know, I think this will make Elena miserable so I think I'm gonna do it." Get over it already!"

She was sick of Elena making comments about her and Damon. Rebecca knew Elena tolerated Damon because of Stefan, but Rebecca also knew Elena didn't agree with Damon's lifestyle, not since Stefan had proven that vampires could live off of animal blood.

Elena was quiet after that. Rebecca felt smug; Elena usually had an answer for everything. Rebecca wished she was spiteful, so she would be able to spill about Stefan's evil vampire days; maybe then Elena wouldn't talk so badly about Damon.

* * *

It had been about three hours since Stefan had gone out to hunt, and Damon came to the conclusion that his brother should've been back by then. He figured Stefan was probably with Elena but neither of them were answering their phones. Stefan's went straight to voice-mail, and he was pretty sure Elena was ignoring him. She was still blaming him for the whole Isobel thing. He knew he probably shouldn't be worried, but he was anyway.

He wouldn't have been if they hadn't been attacked the night before. But that was one of Damon's many secrets - he worried a lot even if he didn't appear to on the outside. That was how he'd found himself knocking on Elena's door. When she answered, he let himself in and swept past her.

"You're ignoring me," he said, facing Elena now. He looked around but Stefan wasn't in sight - that didn't automatically mean his brother wasn't here, though.

"You mean the six missed calls? Sorry, my phone was dead." Her tone made it obvious that Damon had been right in thinking Elena had been ignoring him.

"How long are you going to blame me for turning your birth mother into a vampire?" he asked bluntly.

"I'm not blaming you, Damon. I've accepted the fact that you're a self-serving psychopath with no redeeming qualities."

"Ouch."

If Damon didn't know any better, he'd say Elena looked disappointed - like maybe she'd expected better from him. He didn't understand where she got that from - had she paid any attention to what he was like? He did what he wanted and went where he wanted, and what was it to her anyway?

"Is Stefan here?"

"No. Why? Is something wrong?" Elena dropped the attitude.

"He went out in the woods and didn't come back. I can't get him on his phone, I figured he was here with you."

Elena took her phone out and tried Stefan's number. Zero joy.

"It's going straight to voice-mail. Where could he be?"

Damon had a worrisome suspicion he knew exactly where Stefan was.

"You're not gonna like what I'm thinking." That the tomb vampires had either killed Stefan or had kidnapped him. One or the other. Neither was a pleasant thought, but at least if he'd been kidnapped they could could get him back. When he shared his thoughts with Elena she about had a stroke. She always overreacted to things. Rebecca had called her a drama queen and Damon agreed whole-heartedly.

"A'right. We need a little more firepower than just me," Damon admitted. "If Becca has her strength back, she can come with us. _You _are staying in the car."

Surprisingly, Elena didn't argue.

* * *

When Damon and Elena got to Rebecca's house they were both let in by Tina, who had obviously been released from the hospital. She seemed confused when they asked to see Rebecca, though.

"She hasn't been here at all today," Tina said. "She was supposed to be with you."

Damon looked at Elena and she shook her head. "I dropped her off here, Damon."

"Did you actually see her come in?" Damon asked, already dreading where his mind was going. Elena grimacing didn't help. "That's a no."

"I don't understand," Tina said. "What's happening? Is Becca in trouble?"

Damon found himself not wanting to alarm the woman; he actually liked her a little.

"I'm gonna get her back," he said, looking at Tina. "I promise. In a few hours it'll be like this never happened."

"Get her back from where?" Tina asked, voice shaking. "What's wrong?"

Now that he'd begun he couldn't not tell her what had happened, so he explained, though he edited a lot.

"I will get her back," he determined. He didn't care how, but she would be okay.

And then it occurred to him that _Chelsea_ had been with Rebecca, so that meant that . . . That meant that both of his girls were missing.

_Okay, think rationally_, he told himself.

He would _know_ if Rebecca was in immediate danger. If she _was_ with the vampires then she wasn't in danger yet or he would feel it. Maybe they needed her for something else- a gambling chip or something. And Anna would probably step in if anyone really tried to hurt either Rebecca or Chelsea - Anna wasn't a bad person, she'd done what she'd had to do to get what she'd wanted, that was all.

Damon didn't realize how unnaturally tense he'd become until Elena touched his shoulder.

"She'll be okay," she said. "We'll get her back."

Elena, who had basically been ignoring him and hadn't said a kind word to him for weeks, was now comforting him. They were both in the same boat, assuming Rebecca was with Stefan; they both had the reason for their existence in possible danger - possible_ mortal_ danger - and they both needed them back.

The first step of getting them back was finding out if Stefan and Rebecca really were where Damon thought they were.


	46. Chapter 41

Previously on Rewriting History . . . Damon found out that Rebecca, Chelsea, and Stefan were missing. This is where they are.

Chapter Forty-One

Rebecca woke up on the floor in a house she didn't recognize. There was a pounding in her head and she felt disoriented. The last thing she remembered was being mad at Elena. Elena had driven her home and . . . the rest was a blank.

When she was able to focus she looked around and spotted Stefan on the floor beside her. He had blood coming from his stomach and she assumed the wound had been made by wood. There were four guys surrounding them but she only recognized one. Fredrick, the one that had gotten away the night before. She assumed the other three were from the tomb as well.

"It was almost too easy getting you two here," he stated. "I'm a little disappointed."

"It's been a bad week," Rebecca quipped weakly. "Let us go and try again tomorrow."

"Then I'd lose the element of surprise."

_Surprise_, Rebecca thought, and remembered. Someone had grabbed her from behind and had smothered her with a cloth that had what she assumed was chloroform on it.

"What d'you want?" she asked. _And where's Chelsea_, she asked herself. Chelsea had been in her arms when she'd been . . . knocked out.

"Revenge. They killed Bethanne," Fredrick pointed out. "They're the reason we were locked in the tomb."

_"Katherine_ was the reason you were locked in the tomb," Rebecca couldn't help but point out. "And Bethanne was killed because you two broke into their house."

A not-so-light kick connected with her ribs and she curled up against the pain. She grunted but didn't scream; she wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of that. They would have to do a lot worse than that to make her scream. Pain wasn't new to her.

And she really wanted to know where Chelsea was. Had they just left her on the doorstep? Or was she here? Had they hurt her? Were they really monster enough to hurt a defenseless baby? And where was Anna or Pearl? Were they here, allowing this to happen? After everything she had done to help them?

"Leave her alone," Stefan said weakly. "She has nothing to do with this."

"She's the Slayer," Fredrick said as if that were the obvious reason they were doing this to her. "She has everything to do with this. Though her being off her game is kind of sucking the fun out of it."

Fredrick squatted down beside her and gave her a malicious grin. She glared at him defiantly even though she was beginning to panic on the inside. Fredrick was the type who almost always had violence on the brain. She could only imagine what he had in store for them.

"Must be the Cruciamentum. Ever heard of it?"

Rebecca shook her head even though she didn't want to. She couldn't help it; she was curious now that he'd said something about it. The word sounded Latin in origin, but she had no idea what it meant. Mental cruelty, maybe?

"You can thank your Watcher for that. See, what happens is . . . if the Slayer makes it to her eighteenth birthday, she gets put through a test. She has to face a vampire without her strength. If she wins, she passes. If she fails, however, she dies, and the next Slayer is chosen."

Rebecca didn't believe it at first. Fredrick was an evil vampire, and probably a liar too. But then . . .

_My birthday is tomorrow_, Rebecca thought.

And everything slipped into place. Diana had drugged her the day before, and that was when she'd started feeling weird, during her training. That was why she didn't have her strength and that was why she'd been kidnapped so easily.

Rebecca set her jaw and refused to let herself cry even though she felt a hot, sharp pain at the betrayal. She'd never felt so helpless before. Her hands were bound together so tightly her circulation was being cut off. Things did not look good. And then a banging came from the front of the house. Then a voice . . .

"Pearl, open this door or I swear to God I'll bust in and rip your head off!"

_Damon_! Rebecca thought, elated. He would do whatever it took to get them out. Even Stefan. Rebecca knew that, even though Damon acted like he didn't care, Damon loved his brother even after 145 years.

Fredrick was the one who answered the door. "Pearl's not home."

Well, that answered Rebecca's question of whether or not Anna and Pearl were just letting this happen.

Rebecca couldn't see Damon since she wasn't in the front room - she was in a sort of game room looking place - but she was still close enough to hear.

"Where are they?" From Damon's voice, Rebecca could tell he wasn't in the mood to play games. He wanted answers and he wanted them now.

"Billy, Jacob . . ." Fredrick called, and two of the vampires hopped to it. One grabbed Stefan, the other, Rebecca, and they dragged the two prisoners out to the front.

There Damon was, and when Rebecca looked at him she saw his eyes flash with concern before they turned cold. His arctic gaze fell on Fredrick and Rebecca knew that her captors would be gone - as in no longer living - before the day was through.

"You are dead," Damon said, trying to reach Fredrick but was stopped.

"Whoa, I'm sorry, but you haven't been invited in."

_Oh, this is not my day_, Rebecca thought as Fredrick called the owner of the house to the front door and compelled her not to let Damon in. The owner had Chelsea in her arms, and Rebecca struggled just a little. Chelsea was here, Chelsea could get hurt, Chelsea could _die_. Rebecca had been neglecting her a little lately and now . . . now her sister could die. Rebecca made a promise to herself that if she and her sister got out of this unharmed she would _never_ just pass her around like an unwanted child again.

"One-hundred-and-forty-five years left starving in a tomb thanks to Katherine's fascination with you and your brother. The first few weeks every single nerve in your body screams with fire. The kind of pain that could drive a person mad. Well, I thought your brother might want to get a taste of that before I killed him."

Rebecca jumped as one of the vampires staked Stefan, who then fell to his knees. Rebecca wanted to go to him, help him, but she was being held back by the other vampire.

"And don't worry about your girlfriend. We're not gonna kill her. And you might be able to have her back after we're done. You better hope she knows how to behave."

It wasn't until after Fredrick had slammed the door in Damon's face that Rebecca let herself cry. It was more out of frustration than anything else. She hated feeling helpless; she wasn't that person, not anymore.

Damon couldn't get in, which meant she and Stefan would have to find a way to get out on their own. Unless . . . Unless she could somehow get free and get rid of the owner. But, no . . . she couldn't kill an innocent person; what was she thinking? The owner wasn't at fault here.

_Okay_, she thought. _That's okay. I have a strategic mind, I'm good at this_.

It didn't matter how many times she told herself that; she couldn't concentrate. She kept coming back to how this was all Diana's fault. If Diana hadn't drugged her, Rebecca never would've been kidnapped. Or at least if she had been, it wouldn't have happened so easily. And she probably could've gotten Chelsea to safety first.

_Chelsea_. She just wanted to have her sister in her arms, just to put _her_ at ease. Chelsea didn't know any of these people, and even though the owner - what was her name anyway? - looked like the caring motherly type, Rebecca didn't want a stranger taking care of her sister.

"Take them to the basement," Fredrick ordered; he was clearly the leader. If she could take him out the others wouldn't have anyone to dictate them.

The other vampires were clearly willing to follow Fredrick's orders, so Rebecca and Stefan ended up where the leader wanted them. Rebecca noticed Stefan had a wound on each side of his stomach and he was still bleeding from them. He was going to become even weaker if he didn't heal. Vampires couldn't take major blood loss, not without needing to feed again soon.

The vampire tossed Rebecca to the floor, where she hurt her hands and knees. The wrist she'd damaged a few nights ago gave and she heard a sharp _crack_. She'd broken it. Tears sprang to her eyes automatically, but her pride wouldn't let the moisture fall.

She watched as Stefan was stripped of his shirt and jacket. He was tied up and strung up, his arms above his head.

"Vervain on the ropes," Fredrick taunted, pulling Stefan up higher so his feet couldn't touch the ground. "That's gotta sting."

Rebecca winced as Stefan started screaming and growling. She placed her hands over her ears so she wouldn't hear as well. God, she was going to remember that sound for the rest of her life. She'd heard stories on TV from soldiers who said that sometimes it wasn't what they saw that kept them up at night but what they heard. She understood that now. There was raw agony in Stefan's voice and she never wanted to hear it again. True, she had caused him pain a few times herself, but never like this. She'd never tortured him. She knew it was the vervain that was doing it. Vervain kept vampires from healing right. And she assumed that was why the wounds in his stomach hadn't healed yet; the stakes had been dipped in vervain before they'd been used.

"Speaking of . . ."

They used a medicine dropper to pour liquid vervain into Stefan's eyes so he wouldn't be able to see clearly. She knew, though, that it also burnt. Like placing fire right against one's skin. And it was getting into his system so he'd be even weaker. They were taking away the one person who was with her that could help her out. They were making Stefan essentially useless.

"This isn't right!" a voice came from the doorway.

Rebecca looked up and saw Harper - a young black man and a vampire - that she recognized from 1864. He'd been a soldier in the Civil War who Pearl had saved for some reason. He'd been loyal to Pearl ever since, and he was showing that loyalty now.

Fredrick looked at Harper angrily. "He killed Bethanne. One of us, Harper. And don't you think for a second he wouldn't kill you if he had the chance."

While the vampires were focused on Stefan Rebecca crawled over to a table and helped herself up. On the table were the tools the vampires were using on Stefan. There was even a bucket full of vervain there, and Rebecca wondered if she could use it somehow.

"Pearl says we're not here for revenge, right? I say that's exactly what we're here for." Fredrick looked at Stefan. "Starting with this. And then his brother. And anyone else that gets in our way."

Harper tried to stop Fredrick again but it only got Harper tied to a chair, with wooden stakes in his legs. It was while the vampires were doing that that Rebecca grabbed the bucket of vervain. Her wrist protested but she had to do it. She tossed the liquid on the ones who seriously needed a reality check. It soaked into their clothes and they all let out groans and screams. They would be occupied for a few minutes, at least.

It was hard undoing the ropes that were binding Stefan when she was bound too, but she managed it. With the vampires preoccupied with their pain, it wasn't hard for them to go around them. Stefan helped her remove the ropes that bound her and she massaged her sore wrist. It was broken, she knew, but she'd _have_ to use it if she was going to help them get out.

She removed the two stakes from Harper's legs, and Stefan removed Harper's ropes even though it burnt him from the vervain. Harper had tried to help them; they couldn't just leave him there to die.

The vampires she'd thrown the vervain on looked like they all had serious skin conditions. Their skin was red and they had sores all over them. Rebecca would've let herself become disgusted if she'd had the time. It was gross.

Jacob was the first vampire she'd come to. It took her three tries to actually stake him; without her strength it was hard to break through bone. But she did it. A small smile came to her lips. She wasn't as helpless as she'd thought she was.

The other two, however, knew she was capable of hurting them now and were on their guard. Billy was easy enough to take out, even with a broken wrist, but Fredrick grabbed her by the throat and Stefan had to help her get free.

That was when _more_ vampires showed up and Rebecca slumped, exhausted, and felt defeat hit her in the chest. There were too many of them. Even if she'd been at full strength, with Stefan and Harper helping, she wouldn't have been able to do anything.

"Don't kill her," Fredrick panted. "We don't want another Slayer popping up unexpectedly."

They weren't going to kill her even after what she'd done? That meant she'd get her strength back soon, and she would actually be able to help them get out. Or at least take out a few more so that Damon would have more of a chance to help when he found a way in. Because he _would_ find a way in. Rebecca had no doubt about that.

* * *

"Teacher by day, vampire hunter by night," Damon said.

He and Elena had gone to see the history teacher because he wouldn't need an invitation, exactly, to get into the house. Also, Alaric knew how to take on vampires - sort of, anyway. Damon had had to lie to get Ric to help him, but it was worth it. He'd told Ric that Pearl, the woman who was supposed to have been the leader of all these tomb vampires, could help Ric find Isobel. But who cared if Ric was in search of his dead-not-dead vampire wife, and that Damon had used that to get Ric's help. The end justified the means here.

"I have you to thank for that," Ric said.

"You should thank me. I saved you from a very dull existence."

"Damon, he's helping," Elena chided. "Don't antagonize him."

"But I'm good at it."

Elena rolled her eyes as Ric unrolled a bag of weapons. There were the standard wooden stakes and then there were silver things with needles in them.

"What are these?" Elena asked, gesturing at the silver things while Damon grabbed a stake - there was a reason these were the classic weapon of choice when it came to vampires; they always worked as long as you used them right.

"Tranquilizer darts filled with vervain," Ric answered.

_Huh_, Damon thought. _Smart and innovative. Nifty, even_. Once he got Rebecca back he was going to talk to her about making Ric her supplier for weapons.

"Just get me in and I'll get them out," Damon said.

"That's the plan? You're just gonna take them all on yourself?" Elena asked, disbelief coating her voice.

"I'll be a little stealthier than that, hopefully."

He was reckless and impulsive, but he wasn't stupid. He knew he had no chance of surviving if he just started fighting them all. It wasn't like the movies where, if one person was fighting a group, they would come one at a time. No, they would be fighting together and he would lose.

Elena grabbed one of the vervain darts and Damon arched an eyebrow. "What're you doing?"

"I'm going with you," she said, as if it were obvious.

"No. No, no, no, no. No way."

"You need me. I'll get in, you can distract them, and I'll get them out."

_Brave words, bad idea_.

"You'll get yourself killed, you're not goin' in there," Damon said.

"I'm going," Elena countered.

Instead of answering, Damon chose to ignore the gnat buzzing in his ear. He turned back to Ric. "So, when you get me in, get out as quickly as you can. Because I know how to sneak around where they can't hear me. You'll basically just be in the way."

What Damon wasn't saying was that since Ric was willing to help them out . . . Damon was willing to look after him and not let him get hurt from this . . . adventure.

"Damon, this is not the time to be the Lone Ranger," Elena said stubbornly.

"Fine, Elena. You can . . . you can drive the getaway car," he offered, appreciating Rebecca in a new way for not being such a pain in the ass. At least Rebecca could listen when it was in her best interest to. "But you're not goin' in the house."

"You can't stop me. It's Stefan we're talking about here. You don't understand."

"Oh, I understand. I understand. He's the reason you live; his love lifts you up where you belong. I get it."

He was being a dick, he knew he was, but he was annoyed. Elena wasn't the only one with something to lose here. Stefan was his brother and Rebecca was . . . well, the reason Damon lived. And then there was Chelsea . . . sweet, defenseless, only-a-baby Chelsea.

"Can you just not joke around for two seconds?" Elena snapped.

Damon snapped back. "I can't protect you, Elena. I don't know how many vampires are in there." Damon snapped his fingers. "That's how long it takes you to get your head ripped off. I have to be able to get in and get out. I can't be distracted with your safety. Or this will end up a bloodbath that none of us walk away from, including Stefan."

Damon hadn't meant to upset the girl, but she just hadn't been getting it. Did she need him to get out the finger painting set and _draw_ it out for her? But now Elena looked like she was going to start crying and he felt . . . not guilty, but something close to it, for being the one to cause it.

"I _know_," he said, more gently now. "I get it. I understand." He was being serious now.

He was vaguely aware that the teacher was staring at them, assessing the situation, and Damon refused to look at him.

"If we're gonna go, let's go," the teacher wisely chose not to verbally acknowledge Damon's outburst. And they went.

* * *

Rebecca pulled at her restraints, but it was in vain. Fredrick had ordered she be bound to a pipe near a furnace in the basement. They used shackles - she didn't even want to know where they'd gotten them from. All of her earlier struggles had been for nothing. Stefan and Harper were right back where they'd started, and Rebecca was worse off than she had been before. Every time she pulled, her wrist hurt, and she was concerned she might be damaging it permanently, but if it would help her get them out . . . she knew it would be worth it.

Fredrick came back once he had changed clothing and he was enjoying watching her struggle. Her heart was beating faster from exertion and her side was killing her from where they'd kicked her earlier.

"May as well give up," Fredrick said. "You're not getting out."

She chose not to listen and pulled again. The pain she was causing herself was making her feel sick, but she didn't care. If she stopped it _would_ be giving up, and she refused to do that. It wasn't in her nature; she was innately stubborn, and she only gave in to people she loved. She had no love for the vampire in front of her. Besides . . . if she didn't keep herself busy she would panic, and she couldn't do that. She wouldn't be able to function if she freaked out.

"That was a very brave thing you did earlier. Throwing vervain on us. Would've worked, too, if you hadn't been so worried about getting Stefan and Harper out. You should've saved yourself."

Maybe she should have, but she wouldn't have been able to live with herself if she hadn't tried. Stefan would've tried to help her if the situation had been reversed. And Harper had tried to help them even though he hadn't had to.

"I'm weak now, thanks to you," Fredrick said.

Fredrick leaned into her neck and Rebecca wanted to move away, but there was nowhere to go. She braced herself for the pain that was probably coming and barely even made a sound when Fredrick's fangs broke through her skin. She was aware of Stefan struggling now, when he hadn't been moving before. He was trying to get free, weak as he was, so he could help her.

A few more vampires came in and that was when the real terror started. It was like the two people in the park the other night, only now . . . now she was the main course. One attached himself to her arm, and now they unchained her, now that they _knew_ she couldn't get away. Then to her dismay, to her _humiliation_, they removed her pants and a vampire latched on to either of her legs.

Finally . . . she screamed.

* * *

Ric couldn't believe he was doing this. He couldn't believe he'd agreed to help the man that had basically killed his wife. It didn't matter if Isobel was a vampire, she'd still died. But then again, Ric wasn't doing this for Damon. Or Stefan, for that matter. He was doing it because Elena had asked him to. Elena was Isobel's daughter, which made him her _step-father_ of sorts. Plus, there was Rebecca. She was human and she needed help. Only God knew what these people were doing to her.

It was raining and it was cold, and Ric was standing on the porch thinking about what he was going to say as he knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer it. Then someone did.

"Oh, good. Someone's home. Uh, can I use your phone? My car broke down a few miles up the road and this is the first house I saw."

"Well, lucky you," the man said.

"Yeah, lucky me. It's no trouble, is it?"

"Not in the slightest."

The man moved aside and Ric went into the house, past him.

"Hey, I really appreciate it. It's rough out there."

Ric took in the people in the house. There was the one who had let him in and there was another in the hallway.

"Billy, show our visitor where the phone is in the kitchen. And get me something to drink."

"Yeah, sure."

Ric was led past a game room and there were at least five people in there. Then he was shown the kitchen, where an older woman was chopping up vegetables at the counter.

"Hey, Ms. Gibbons, this man wants to use your phone."

"Oh, sure, honey, it's right there."

"Thanks."

The woman had bite marks on her neck and wrists; these people had been feeding from her. When she pointed to the wall on the other side of the room, Ric began walking and let a stake slide down his jacket sleeve. He could _feel_ the man behind him and when he sensed the man - vampire - was behind him he turned and stabbed him right in the heart.

Ric turned the faucet on to block out any noise that was going to be made, and then, for safe measure, turned a blender on.

"What's happening?" Ms. Gibbons said.

Ric grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her along with him, toward the back door. "I'm really sorry, but you're gonna need to invite a friend of mine inside."

Ric opened the door and there Damon stood. Ms. Gibbons looked at him briefly. "Oh, I'm sorry, but he's not allowed in the house."

"You have to make an exception."

"Get her out of the house, now," Damon said. So Ric gently shoved her towards Damon. Damon grabbed her and forced her to look at him. "Ms. Gibbons, now tell me the truth. Are you married?"

"No," she said.

"Parents, children? Anyone else who lives on this property?"

"No, it's just me."

"No?" Damon asked, making sure. "Good."

Ric, who had been keeping watch to make sure no other vampires came into the kitchen, turned as he heard something snap. It had been the woman's neck. Ric saw her fall to the porch floor.

"You were supposed to compel her," Ric seethed, grabbing Damon by his jacket. He hadn't agreed to help Damon kill anyone.

"It doesn't work that way," Damon explained.

"She's human."

"And I'm not. So I don't care," Damon said. "Now get out of here. And get rid of the body."

Ric did leave, but he didn't get rid of the body. What the hell was he supposed to do with it? Grab it and toss it in Damon's trunk? He didn't think so.

He took off and made his way back to the car, which was only about a third of a mile away. When he got there he saw that Elena was no longer in the car.

"Damn it, Elena!" he exclaimed, grabbing his weapons bag and making his way _back_ to the vampire house.

* * *

When Damon found Rebecca and Stefan he almost couldn't breathe. There was relief that he'd finally gotten in, which he'd have to admit was thanks to Ric, but there was also renewed anger. Stefan was bound and Rebecca was unconscious. There were bite marks all over her body.

Damon had had to kill his way down here. Two on the first floor, one in the basement. Damon had gotten in because of Ric - and because he had killed the owner of the house. He'd had no choice; she'd been compelled to not let him in, and Damon couldn't reverse another vampire's compulsion unless the vampire was weaker than himself - Fredrick was not weaker.

Everything had gone smoothly until Elena had decided she wanted to be a hero. She was insane; that was all he could guess.

He left Stefan to Elena since all she had to do was untie him, and he went to Rebecca. Her wrist was swollen, probably broken. He'd known it had been sore, anyway, had been sprained, and now it looked like it had a few day ago. There were bite marks on her neck, arms, and thighs. Her jeans were bunched around her ankles and he really hoped that the vampires who had done this were still alive. So he could kick their asses. Slowly.

This was what they'd mean when they'd said they weren't going to kill her; they were going to play with her first. They were going to humiliate her by doing this. They hadn't even thought about compelling her; they'd _wanted_ to hurt her, they'd wanted to cause her as much embarrassment as possible by shedding her clothing and _using_ her, feeding from her. They'd wanted her scared of them.

"Elena, you shouldn't be here," Stefan said weakly, causing Damon to be momentarily distracted by his brother. Stefan had a few cuts on his chest, and Damon could _smell_ the vervain - they'd obviously used a copious amount - in his brother's system.

"She was supposed to stay in the car."

Damon noticed that Rebecca's wounds had stopped bleeding on their own and was relieved. Obviously Stefan hadn't distracted him for more than a few seconds - Stefan wasn't as bad off as Rebecca was. Damon caressed Rebecca's cheek a few times and she woke up easily enough. The relief he saw in her eyes was painful to watch. She was looking at him as though he were her savior. It was then that Damon realized that Rebecca hadn't known how she'd get out of this situation. They had made her give up of any escape on her own.

"I knew you'd come," she said softly.

But she hadn't given up on him, apparently.

He shrugged and smirked, appearing calmer than he actually was. "Can you walk?"

"Uh, help me up!"

Rebecca grabbed at her jeans and slid them up her legs - or tried to. Damon watched as she struggled before doing it himself - why hadn't she just asked for help? He could tell her ribs were bruised from the way she was moving, but he couldn't worry about that now. Now . . . now he had to worry about them surviving, and he was all he had. Rebecca couldn't fight now, and Stefan was too hurt, and Elena was beyond useless - though he had to admire her spunk. Not every girl would've followed him in here, no matter the reason.

Once Rebecca was on her feet she seemed steady enough, he was glad to see, though he could tell she was in a great deal of pain by the careful control she was keeping on her face. She didn't want him to know how bad she felt. He wondered how many times that had happened with her before and he hadn't noticed until now.

"Do you think you can make it to the car?"

"I have to get Chelsea," she said. "But, yeah, to get out of here, I would _crawl_ to the car."

Rebecca was smiling softly even after everything she'd been through. He figured that was from the initial relief she was feeling because she was getting rescued.

"Fredrick's the leader, so kill him a lot," she said.

_Kill him a lot_? Damon thought, amused. _Yeah, one way to put it_.

Damon was going to take his time with Fredrick. He had kidnapped three of the people Damon cared about and had tortured two of them. He hoped Chelsea was okay but he couldn't think about it. Until he saw the girl, he wouldn't think about anything bad that could've happened; he had to be able to fight with a clear head.

Stefan helped a vampire who was staked to a chair. The guy had tried helping them, Damon guessed.

"Okay, Elena, you rescue, I'll distract," Damon said, realizing that Elena had said that was how it should've been to begin with. Maybe he should've listened.

"No," Rebecca remarked. "You're coming with us, or I'm coming with you."

"I'll be right behind you. I'll get Chelsea; you go with them."

"There are about nine vampires up there, Damon. You can't do it by yourself. That would be suicide."

"I'll be fine."

Rebecca didn't look like she liked it, but she nodded anyway. It wasn't like they had much of a choice either way. Elena, Stefan, and Rebecca went down the hallway that led to the cellar door that would ultimately lead them to freedom; Damon went the other way. He took out one vampire automatically. She was off by herself. It alerted the others to his presence and they also separated. Easy prey, them going off alone. Damon was making enough noise for them to think he was human - their mistake.

He took care of another one in a game room. Then there was Fredrick. Damon didn't just want to kill him. He wanted this one to suffer because Fredrick had set this whole thing up. It was his fault.

It would've worked, making Fredrick suffer, if two others hadn't come to Fredrick's rescue. They grabbed Damon and threw him to the floor. One of them got a broken leg and a stake to the heart for his efforts.

Ric, who Damon thought had already left, ended up saving him with some kind of stake gun thing. Like Damon had thought before, the teacher was smart and innovative. He was grateful even though he wouldn't say thank you out loud. Though to be fair . . . Damon hadn't killed Ric when he'd had the chance, so . . . the fact that Ric saved his life was only right. They were even now.

"I'm goin' after Fredrick," Damon said before taking off.

* * *

Outside, Elena, Stefan, and Rebecca made it to the car and Rebecca pretty much collapsed into the backseat. Elena helped Stefan into the front seat and she got in the driver's side. Elena locked the doors, which Rebecca didn't understand, personally, because, if a vampire wanted in, they would just break the window or rip the door off. It was such a human thing to do. It was in that moment that Rebecca realized she no longer thought like a human. It was a little scary and a little not, which was also scary.

She remembered what she'd told Damon about him coming with them and it occurred to her she'd forgotten about Chelsea for a second - even after promising herself that if she got out of there alive she would never neglect Chelsea again. But all she'd been worried about was getting Damon and herself out of there. It hurt her chest that she was able to put Damon above her sister. She'd known Chelsea was somewhere in that house - somewhere safe, hopefully, and alive - and yet she'd told Damon . . . to leave her there. That was how Rebecca interpreted it anyway. Damon hadn't done it, thankfully, but now she was worried about them both. If Damon didn't survive then Chelsea sure wouldn't, and then what would she do? Who would she have? If anything happened to Damon . . . if he died, she would die, it was that simple.

"Uh . . . guys . . ."

Elena's voice was confused, so Rebecca looked over the front seat to see the ignition had been ripped out. Someone had been in here. The window broke on Stefan's side and he was pulled out. Fredrick was there. Rebecca knew he wanted revenge, but couldn't he just get over it already? It wasn't like someone like him knew what love was, anyway.

Elena was already out of the car before Rebecca could even open her door, but when she did she saw Fredrick was holding Stefan up, getting ready to stake him. Elena plunged something into Fredrick's back. Rebecca wasn't sure, but she thought Stefan passed out then. She hadn't known vampires could pass out from injuries alone.

"What was that?" Rebecca asked as she gingerly made her way to her friends.

"Vervain dart," Elena said. "Mr. Saltzman helped get Damon in."

"Well, where is he?" He hadn't been killed, had he? Rebecca was just beginning to like the guy.

"He was supposed to leave."

Rebecca watched helplessly as Elena tried to wake Stefan up. Whatever they were going to do, they needed to do it fast. The vervain wouldn't affect Fredrick for long, not with so much blood in his system. He was already groaning, trying to get up.

"He's lost a lot of blood, Elena," Rebecca said weakly. "He can't help us. He needs to heal."

"No, no. I can - I can give him some of my blood."

"That's a bad idea, Elena," Rebecca said, recalling Damon's words about what human blood did to Stefan even after 145 years. It wouldn't be pretty.

"Well, I'm not just gonna let him die!"

Elena and Stefan had taken a fall earlier, and Elena had cut her hand. It was still bleeding. Elena pressed her palm to Stefan's lips and he began to respond.

"Elena, please, run," he said, moving his head away from the blood.

"No. My wrist. Take my wrist, you need more blood."

"No. Run."

Rebecca grabbed Elena's wrist and pulled weakly. She found she wasn't even strong enough to move Elena, who was maybe one hundred pound soaking wet.

"Elena, he doesn't want it. Don't . . . force him to drink it."

_Deja vu_, she thought.

"He'll die without it!" Elena almost shrieked and actually pushed Rebecca away and back into Damon's car.

Rebecca's legs gave out and she landed on the ground. She watched Elena turn back to Stefan.

"I trust you," Elena told Stefan.

Stefan agreed hesitantly and he drank from Elena for about twenty seconds. Rebecca observed the whole time. She didn't care whether her strength was gone or not, if he spazzed, she would stake him. Maybe not in the heart - she loved Damon too much to take Stefan away from him - but she would stab him somewhere.

* * *

Back at the house, Damon and Ric were trapped inside. After Damon had realized that Fredrick wasn't there, he'd decided that the best plan was to get Chelsea and leave; Chelsea was fine - she'd been found in what had been the owner's bedroom. _But_ vampires had the place surrounded now.

"So, what you said to get me to do this, about my wife . . . it was a lie, wasn't it?" Ric asked.

"Yep," Damon said, unrepentant.

All was lost until Pearl showed up. When she saw the carnage she asked, "What did you do?"

"Me? Your merry little band of vampires spent the day torturing my brother and sucking the life out of Rebecca, the girl you wanted to coexist peacefully with."

"Trust me, the parties responsible for this will be dealt with." Damon noticed Pearl wouldn't look him in the eyes. "This wasn't supposed to happen."

"Well, it did." He walked by her and toward the door. "If I had a good side . . . not a way to get on it."

He and Ric got out and Damon kept pace with the teacher. He wouldn't thank him, but he would make sure he got back to the car okay. His own way of thanking Ric, he guessed, helping Ric not get killed today.

Damon didn't say anything and neither did the teacher, which was just fine with him. When they reached the car he saw Stefan staking Fredrick over and over again. Rebecca and Elena were standing a few feet away. Rebecca was holding onto Elena, and she looked . . . not well. She was trembling, and she looked like she could fall over at any moment. Damon went to her and she instantly let go of Elena and held onto him instead. She looked at Chelsea with relief, but didn't try to take the girl from him.

"I think . . . I - I think I need a hospital. Fast, please."

That scared him more than he'd like to admit because Rebecca _never_ wanted to go to the hospital. She was breathing shallowly and her whole body was shaking from the whole ordeal she'd been through. She bit her lip and Damon knew the waterworks would come soon. She'd reached her limit. The crisis was over and she could let go now.

"Stefan, he's dead," Elena said, breaking through Damon's thoughts, and he saw his brother had gone crazy.

Fuck, but he'd seen this before. He recognized the insane animalistic look in Stefan's eyes from before; he'd seen it more than once.

Stefan was taking out his frustrations on an already dead vampire, and the only thing that stopped him was Elena's voice. It took him a few seconds to remember himself, though, and he didn't calm down right away.

But it was right then that Rebecca went limp in Damon's arms, so he wasn't really worried about anything else. If Stefan had grabbed Elena to bite her, Damon wouldn't have even noticed.

"Everybody in the car, let's go."

Elena, Stefan and Ric were looking at Rebecca with concern. Elena and Stefan were her friends, and Ric was just concerned because he was good human . . . person.

"Come on, people, move!" Damon snapped. "She'll be fine as long as we get her to a hospital. Elena, call Rebecca's dad and tell him to meet us there."

She did as she was told. Better late than never, he guessed.

Damon was kind of pissed when he found he had to hot-wire his car. There was no longer a spot to stick his key in. He was thankful for the years spent in delinquency.

"I don't understand, why don't you just give her some of your blood," Elena asked.

"The only reason why she's made it this far is adrenaline. She needs a blood transfusion. If I gave her blood to heal her wounds . . . the doctors would have a hard time figuring out how she lost so much blood, yeah?"

"Right."

Stefan was in the front with Damon - safety precaution. Elena, Ric, Chelsea and Rebecca were in the back. Damon had seen the bite mark on Elena's wrist but he had chosen to ignore it for now. Though he had a bad feeling about it, he had other things to worry about now - like Rebecca living.

Damon paid attention to Rebecca's heart beat; it if slowed down at all he was pulling the car over and forcing blood down her throat. She could hate him for a while if she wanted, but at least she'd be alive to hate him.

* * *

When they got to the hospital Damon rushed Rebecca into the ER and called for a doctor. "She been bitten several times; she's lost a lot of blood!" he exclaimed.

"Bring her in here," a nurse who had jumped at the sudden intrusion led them to a space that was surrounded by curtains. Damon placed Rebecca on the bed gently as a doctor came and began asking questions.

_What happened? Was she unconscious when you found her? Was she alone?_

Damon didn't feel like answering questions, so he said, "Just help her." He said it flatly, staring into the doctor's eyes, compelling him to listen.

The doctor nodded robotically. "You'll have to wait outside while we get her set up."

"Of course."

Damon went back out to Elena and Stefan. He was surprised that Ric was still there. Stefan had a jacket on, so the blood on his shirt wasn't visible. Elena and Ric, however . . . had very visible bite marks - Elena's on her wrist and Ric's on his neck. Damon hadn't realized it before but Ric had been the one to end up with Chelsea duty - Damon had just handed her over to whoever had been closest and he guessed that had been Ric. Ric must've held her on his lap because Damon didn't have a baby seat for the car. They had to switch Chelsea's one car seat every time she switched cars.

Maybe he should consider buying one.

Ric was good with Chelsea, calming, and he seemed to know the bounce move. But Damon wanted her back now. He needed something to keep him from snapping and killing anyone within reaching distance. Damon didn't hurt children, let alone babies, so Chelsea would keep him grounded.

But back to Elena's and Ric's bite marks . . . Elena had given her blood to Stefan. Stefan was alive because of her. Damon figured he should thank her somehow. And Ric . . . Ric had had every reason _not_ to help them at all, and yet . . . Rebecca wouldn't have been here getting the help she needed, she would've still been a chew toy - if she'd survived that long - without the history teacher. Ric had really come through and had had his neck chewed on too, to help get Rebecca and Stefan back.

Damon maybe owed him one now. Ric liked bourbon just like Damon did; maybe Damon would buy him some of the good stuff.

"You guys should go," Damon said softly. "You're gonna draw attention. You can come back after you change."

The three listened and then Damon was alone with Chelsea. Not one of them mentioned that _he_ needed to change - that _he_ had blood on him as well. Not his own, but Rebecca's. Damon wasn't alone for long. Rebecca's dad showed up, along with Tina. Robert was upset but not showing it, and Tina looked anxious. Tina had obviously explained to Robert what was going on.

"How bad is it? Why did she have to come here?"

"She lost a lot of blood," Damon said. "But she'll be okay."

"The ones that did this . . ." Tina started but couldn't finish.

"They're gone," Damon said stonily. "They won't hurt her again."

Relief shined through both Robert's and Tina's faces, and Damon's shoulders released some of the tension they'd been filled with. Even though he didn't admit it out loud, he wanted Rebecca's family to like him for the simple fact that it made his relationship with Rebecca easier. He'd been sure they were going to blame him, but they hadn't.

"Uh . . ." Damon felt awkward, which he _hated_ because he wasn't used to it, but . . . "Do you mind if I wait with you guys? I just, uh . . . I want to be here when she wakes up."

Rebecca had reduced him to someone who was asking permission from her family to just sit with them to wait for her to wake up. It bothered him, it really did; it had been easier when he hadn't cared what anyone else thought.

"Of course you can wait," Tina said, soft green eyes connecting with his blue ones. "You love her, too."

If Damon had been human, he might have broken down at that statement, but, as it was, all he did was smile softly and nod once. He vaguely wondered if maybe he should call Rebecca's other friends but he decided against it; he would leave that to Elena. Caroline would freak out and he didn't really know Matt, and Bonnie wasn't even in town. Elena would probably bring Jeremy back when she came. And Rebecca probably wouldn't want everyone seeing her this way, anyway; he'd wait to see what she wanted when she woke up.

After about two hours of waiting - waiting anxiously and wanting to snap from the strain of not knowing what was going on - the doctor who had taken care of Rebecca came out and told them she was finally stable. Her wrist was damaged pretty badly and they'd had to reset it. She'd been unconscious, of course, but it was fixable. Her ribs were bruised on her right side, the muscles inflamed, but they would heal, too, in time. They were now in the middle of giving her blood, and they could see her after that was done. They would move her to a room.

"Her body, however, is exhausted. We gave her something to keep her asleep. She doesn't need to be moving around much in the shape she's in."

It was around then, too, that Stefan came in, looking not-crazy now, which was a plus. He gestured for Damon to come outside, and he did.

"Where's Elena? You two are usually attached at the hip."

"Elena's with Matt. She got a call about forty-five minutes ago. Caroline found Vicki's body."

"What?" He hadn't expected that, not in a million years.

"Yeah. The storm unearthed the grave. Everybody's over there. I told them I'd call if anything changed. How is she?"

Stefan had led Damon to Stefan's red Porsche, and now Stefan was getting a bag out of it. He handed it to Damon and Damon looked in it to find clothes - some of his and some of Rebecca's. Damon had washed off earlier, because Tina had taken Chelsea from him for that purpose, but his clothes had still had blood on them.

"Thanks," he said before he could stop himself, but then after the _hellish_ day he'd just had, who cared about airs right then, anyway? "And she's stable. Asleep."

As if he didn't have enough to worry about, now Vicki had been found. Jeez.

"Do me a favor and don't tell Rebecca when she wakes up. That's not what she needs to hear," Damon said. Damon remembered how unhappy Rebecca had been when Vicki had been killed - really killed, not just when she'd become a vampire. As weird as it was for a human to think the way Rebecca did, Rebecca hadn't really thought Vicki had been dead until she'd _really_ died when she'd been staked. When Vicki had become a vampire, Rebecca had just thought of it as a change that Vicki hadn't really had a choice in.

"Yeah, sure." Stefan shook his head. "Rebecca's very brave. She didn't stop fighting until he locked her up. Even when she was bound she fought. She killed two of them even without her strength."

Damon, being blunt by nature, said, "You fed from Elena tonight. You're not gonna go off the deep end now, are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks for your concern," Stefan said stiffly.

"Yeah."

Damon wasn't so sure, though, because he'd been around when Stefan had human blood in his system. It wasn't pretty, and it _never_ ended well. Then he let himself think about what Stefan had just said. He'd known Rebecca would fight; she wouldn't just sit pretty while they did whatever they did. It wasn't in her nature.

Fury took hold of him, though, when he imagined the humiliations Rebecca must have been put through. He'd found her with her pants around her ankles. They'd bitten her thighs not just to feed, but to violate her, embarrass her. They'd done it intentionally. And their deaths had been fast, over too quickly. They should've suffered more, was his way of thinking.

* * *

Sixteen hours, that was how long Damon had been at the hospital. _Sixteen hours_. He hated hospitals. Full of pain and sickness. Full of people trying to hold onto a life that was hanging on by a thread. Full of humans that he didn't care about moaning and groaning about that final permanent nap.

Humans didn't know how good they had it sometimes, Damon didn't think. They got to grow old with the ones they loved. They didn't have to leave everything behind because they didn't age. They could have kids, leave behind a legacy. Their pain would someday end, naturally. In a human way. Whether it was sickness or old age, even an accident.

Part of the reason Damon hadn't gotten close to people since he'd become a vampire was because he knew that either they would end up leaving him or, because of who he was - what he was - he would have to leave them. It was too painful, watching humans die, the ones he was close to. Because . . . there he was, eternally young and fit, and there they were, getting older with ever passing year.

He couldn't remember how many friends and family members he'd seen buried - some he'd personally taken care of because no one else was around to do it. It tore a hole in his chest every time someone he knew and cared about passed away.

And still . . . Rebecca slept on, despite Damon's distress. Her vitals were strong, but her body had been pushed to the max and so . . . she rested. And Damon was on edge. Just sitting in her room, watching her sleep . . . it was driving him nuts.

Elena and Jeremy were there, they'd come in that morning. Caroline was with Matt, who was at home. Bonnie was still away, grieving over her Grams. Elena didn't want to bother her. Damon knew it was because Bonnie still wasn't accepting calls from Elena. She hadn't been accepting calls from Rebecca either.

Tina had gone home with Chelsea, and Robert, having been assured several time that Rebecca was going to be okay, had left a few hours after Rebecca had been moved into a room. Damon hadn't left all night; he'd barely _moved_ all night - vampires didn't have to move if they didn't want to; it had to do with being a natural predator. Damon hadn't wanted to chance any of the tombed vampires coming here - it was a public building, so no invite was needed to get in.

More importantly, though, was the fact that Rebecca didn't need to wake up alone. Not after what she'd been through. To him it would've been a sort of betrayal on his part if he didn't stay with her, not when he knew she'd need comforting when she woke up.

Liz had shown up after hearing about what had happened, and he'd felt _something_ when she'd said it wasn't business. She cared about both of them and she wanted to know they were all right. Elena was even worried about Damon, and Jeremy, too, which Damon didn't understand because he barely knew the kid. But this was what it meant to have people who cared. It was good but it also made him uncomfortable. It had been so long in between times that he'd had friends that he'd forgotten what it was like. He'd gotten used to doing things on his own because the one he'd been able to count on had been himself.

Not so now. He had Rebecca, and even Elena and Stefan to a certain extent. Liz. And Ric, too, where other vampires were involved.

The room they were in was quiet. A human would've been able to hear a pin drop. It was just about to drive him crazy. It was then that Rebecca began groaning, that her eyes began moving around frantically under her eyelids. She was dreaming, having a nightmare, and he didn't blame her. She'd been strong long enough. If she was dreaming, though, that meant the medicine was wearing off and she'd wake up soon. Then he'd be able to assess how okay she _really_ was.

* * *

Okay, so here's the rescue of Rebecca, Chelsea and Stefan!


	47. Chapter 42

Previously on Rewriting History . . . Damon, Ric, and Elena rescued Stefan and Rebecca.

Chapter Forty-Two

When Rebecca woke up she felt completely . . . off. For a few moments she couldn't even open her eyes; it felt as if they were glued shut. Her body felt heavy and she could barely move. Which was just stupid, because she could usually move however she wanted, and no one could say she was too heavy a girl.

Then she remembered. _Oh, God, I'm . . . I was kidnapped. I'm with Fredrick and the others. Me, Stefan, Harper, and Chelsea. Oh, God._

_That_ got her moving and it caused her to open her mouth to cry out in pain. Her wrist, her ribs, her . . . her whole body was screaming at her for moving so fast. Oh, God, she was really hurt, and she was trapped, and -

Someone grabbed her by the shoulders but she still had her eyes closed and she refused to open them because she knew she'd see red eyes and fangs and she was going to be hurt again.

"Becca, open your eyes," a soft, familiar voice said. "You're safe."

Safe? She peeked through one eyelid and felt relief so strong it was painful. She _was_ safe because Damon was in front of her. With blue eyes, not red, and blunt human teeth, not fangs. She was . . . in the hospital, not at the house with Fredrick and -

_Fredrick is dead_, she remembered. _Stefan killed him_.

Everything that had happened to her flashed through her mind and she looked around the room. Along with Damon, there was Elena, Jeremy, and her dad. He looked like he'd just gotten there - he was the one that was the least rumpled.

There was only a split second of warning - throat and eyes burning - before she burst into tears. Not because she was scared or hurt but because she was safe. After everything, it was almost impossible to believe. At the point of her becoming a vampire-feast she'd thought she was going to die.

Elena got to her before anyone else, aside from Damon of course, but since Elena was a girl he let her be the one to hold Rebecca first.

"This might be a bad time to say it, but happy birthday," Jeremy said softly, taking his turn in comforting her.

Rebecca let out a sobbing laugh when she realized it was indeed her birthday. She wouldn't have remembered had Jeremy not said anything. He'd spoken lightly and as a joke, and she appreciated him not asking her how she was. She really didn't want to talk about it right now.

"I so want a party when I get better," she said, only half-joking.

Damon let a small smile grace his lips. _There's my girl_, he thought. And he knew then that she would eventually be okay. If she could talk about a party and be at least a little serious about it, there was no way she was too traumatized to be herself. They could probably even have a double party. Rebecca's birthday was in January and so was Chelsea's.

Rebecca, however, was thinking about what Fredrick had told her about her being drugged. That Diana had done it - on purpose - to put her through a test. Had that been the test? Putting her in a house full of starving, angry vampires? If it was, that was stupid. She was lucky to be alive.

Her anger stopped her tears, and she glanced at Damon. She couldn't tell him yet; he would kill Diana for doing this to her - she knew he would. And Rebecca didn't want Diana dead no matter what she'd done.

Elena broke through Rebecca's thoughts by hugging her again. She grimaced because her ribs hurt even more now from her outburst. She heard Elena say, "I'm so glad you're awake," before letting go.

Her dad went to talk to the doctor, and Elena, Jeremy, and Damon were left with her. Neither Elena nor Damon knew that Jeremy knew about vampires, but Rebecca could see a small fury burning in Jeremy's brown eyes. He knew what had happened, or the gist of it anyway.

Elena and Jeremy left shortly after that, but Jeremy promised to come back later that day. Then it was just she and Damon. He sat beside her on the bed.

"How're you feeling?"

"Uh . . . like a truck ran me over and like I got eaten by a bear."

"That's one way to put it," he said softly.

"I got out alive, so it can't be too bad, yeah?"

"Are you being for real? Because I know all about pretending to be okay when you're not."

"I'm okay," she said. "Really. I'm safe, like you said. When I woke up everything just came back to me all at once, that's all."

"Ah." He kissed her once on the forehead and then said, "Your dad's coming back. I won't leave the hospital, but I'm gonna give him time with you."

Rebecca nodded. She'd known already that Damon wouldn't leave. Not now while she was still hurt and weak. And not while some of the tombed vampires were still out there.

"Wait." She grabbed his arm. "Uh . . . Is Stefan gonna be okay? I know, uh . . . with what happened with Elena . . ."

"He says he's fine, but I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. There's no way he's okay. He's been off the human stuff for too long."

"It's going to be bad then, isn't it? And I'm stuck in a hospital." She sighed and then looked at Damon, more serious than she'd ever been. "Is Chelsea okay?"

"She's at home with Tina. Do you want me to bring her here?"

"Not today. Tomorrow maybe. When I'm stronger."

A chill went through her because of what Damon had said about Stefan. Last time she'd been around Stefan when he was on the human stuff, as Damon had put it, Stefan had wanted _her_ blood for the simple fact that she tasted good - better than other humans. Back then she'd thought it had been because she'd been with Damon and had willingly late him feed from her, but now she was sure it was just because of her blood.

* * *

True to his word, Damon didn't leave the hospital. It wasn't just the tomb vampires he was worried about now; Stefan was on his mind too. Stefan could cause even more damage than Damon when he put his mind to it. He'd been around for almost all of Stefan's relapses. Some where worse than others and some lasted longer than others, but . . . and there was a but . . . Stefan hadn't had Elena for those other benders, either. Stefan was what other vampires called a ripper. All the bad parts of being a vampire. Violence, blood-lust, alimalistic instincts. Damon _knew_ he had those parts too, and yeah, he had let them out a lot over the last 145 years, but Stefan . . . Stefan couldn't stop once he started. He would kill and then feel bad about it, and so on and so forth until it drove him crazy.

Damon was trying to keep the town off the trail of vampires, so now was not a good time to have Stefan going off the deep end.

A blond girl with balloons came in and Damon immediately recognized her as Caroline Forbes.

"Is she awake?" the blond asked cautiously. He understood why - he had treated Caroline very badly. He could not apologize for it, though, because . . . well, her name was not Rebecca and so it was pretty much physically impossible for him to do so. That was his story and he was sticking to it.

"Yes. She'll be happy to see you."

Caroline nodded and was about to turn around when Damon grabbed her arm. All of a sudden she looked smaller and more vulnerable. He knew it was a reaction to him and he felt a little guilty.

"Don't mention Vicki. She doesn't know yet. I didn't think that was the best thing for her to wake up to."

"Hm. And you _care_. That's new."

Damon didn't snap at that; he knew he deserved it. And, for all intents and purposes, he _hadn't_ cared when he'd been with Caroline Forbes. He'd wanted Rebecca back and that was all he'd wanted at that time.

"Look . . . you have every reason to hate me, I know. I was . . . I was a jerk to you, so don't do it for me. Do it for her." And that was as close to him apologizing as he was going to get. He'd admitted he'd been wrong, so . . . now it was up to her.

Caroline looked at him oddly and he understood that too. He wasn't acting like himself. But he didn't want to cause a scene by ripping her necklace off her in the hospital.

"She wants a party when she gets better. Plan one for her?"

Blondie only had to consider for a second - parties were her thing; she liked planning things like that. Damon blamed it on her control freak attitude.

"For _her,_" she said pointedly. Then . . . "I don't know what happened to her or why, but I do know that you helped save her, so . . . thank you. For getting her back."

With that, Caroline turned around and walked away with the balloons.

* * *

Rebecca was surprised when Caroline showed up with red and blue balloons, each of which had "Happy Birthday" on them. The blond had two cards - one was a birthday card, the other, a "Get Well Soon" card.

Due to the recent drama Rebecca felt tears prick behind her eyes. Usually that gesture wouldn't have bothered her, but now . . .

She loved Caroline.

Caroline hugged her gently and Rebecca returned the gesture. She could tell something was wrong, though, because Caroline wasn't her usual gushing, bubbly self. But Rebecca didn't ask. There was nothing she could do about it while she was in the hospital and she didn't need anything else to worry about.

"I'm glad you came. I didn't even know if you knew I was in here."

"Elena called last night. She told me they gave you something to make you sleep. I didn't wanna risk waking you up."

"Oh. Yeah, I just woke up not too long ago."

Rebecca noticed her dad watching her and Caroline and then he excused himself, wanting to give Caroline and Rebecca some privacy.

Caroline told Rebecca that she'd gotten lost on "Some random backwoods path to hell" yesterday near the ravine. That was a place near the Falls. The storm had washed out Route 5, and she'd gotten stuck in the mud when she'd tried taking a back road. Caroline had been going to see her father for his boyfriend's daughter's birthday party. A nontraditional tradition for Caroline. That was how she'd gotten lost.

"Leave it to you to do something like that," Rebecca said fondly. Rebecca loved that Caroline had normal problems, not like everyone else she knew.

Caroline smiled softly but a little sadly. Something was wrong; Rebecca was acutely aware of that, but again she didn't ask. Caroline stayed until Jeremy came in, and then Caroline obviously sensed something was unfinished between them and she left.

"Hey," he said as he pulled a chair to her bed.

"Hey. I thought you were leaving with Elena."

"I didn't. Who did this to?" Jeremy's voice was serious and concerned. He wanted to talk to her about this now since he hadn't been able to before.

Rebecca explained to the best of her ability what had happened. She made it clear that Anna hadn't had any part of what the others had planned. Then, too late, she realized Jeremy didn't know about the tomb vampires. That led to a whole other discussion, which led to another and another, and she realized she probably wasn't even saying it right. Effects of the drugs they'd used to keep her asleep, she figured. And Jeremy didn't even know about the Slayer bit. This wouldn't make much sense without that little piece. Or a bunch of other little pieces. Some she couldn't tell him because . . . well, some of her secrets weren't actually hers to tell; they belonged to other people and she wouldn't share them without permission.

So when she asked him to hold the questions for another day he quickly obliged. He stayed until her dad came back. Her dad wasn't surprised to see Jeremy there, so Rebecca assumed Jeremy had talked to him before coming in.

* * *

Rebecca got her IV taken out that day and was allowed to walk around as long as she didn't overdo it. She was happy to find that Damon had some of her clothes, which she was allowed to wear as long as they didn't irritate her wounds.

Even though her dad was there, she wanted Damon to be the one to help her. She hated everyone seeing how weak she was, but it couldn't be helped. She _needed_ someone there so she wouldn't fall and injure herself further.

Tina had showed up with Chelsea, which helped Rebecca relax. Having her sister there was a normal thing - though Chelsea didn't understand why Rebecca wasn't strong enough to play with her or hold her or change her. Tina seemed to get that Damon was Rebecca's caretaker for the evening and she didn't fuss. Her dad seemed to be happy she was up moving around but resentful that Damon was the one helping her. And yet he was grateful, too. Damon had saved her, gotten her out of her very terrible situation.

Rebecca had had to have stitches for the bites on her thighs and it hurt to walk. Whenever Damon even looked in that direction she saw fury flash in his eyes. Damon didn't complain about having to take care of her. Actually, he made it seem like it was the least he could do. She had almost been killed and, even though Damon wasn't expressing it outwardly, she knew he wouldn't have lasted long without her. Damon loved her with everything he was, even if he did have a hard time saying it sometimes. It would've destroyed him to lose her.

So if Damon felt better staying by her side, if it made him happier being there seeing for himself that she was okay . . . she wouldn't take that away from him. And she wouldn't mention it either. It would alert him to what he was doing and he would probably stop.

By that night she was already ready to go home. The doctor, however, wouldn't release her - his reasoning was she'd been through something traumatic. She'd almost been killed. He wanted to assure she would keep resting until it was healthy for her to resume her normal activities.

Once Robert, Tina and Chelsea had left - and they had at her insistence - she asked Damon to get her out, but he wouldn't compel the doctor to release her.

"Why not?" Rebecca asked, and she actually felt her lower lip jut out.

Damon didn't even blink. He did seem amused, though. "You can't even move by yourself. I'm not making him let you out. The world won't end if you take a day off, I promise."

That night was when Damon told Rebecca about Vicki - he didn't want someone else to tell her, and she needed to know before she got out of the hospital. Hence, telling her now. He didn't get much of a reaction except that she wanted to call Matt and see how he was doing.

Damon left her to it and went out to get some fresh air. God, he was hungry. He hadn't fed since before he'd found out that Rebecca and Stefan had gone missing. More than twenty-four hours. If he waited much longer he was going to become very cranky.

While outside, he noticed Diana and some old guy was getting out of a car. True, he had never met Diana, but he'd seen her once or twice. He'd been curious about Rebecca's training and had followed her a few times. So, yeah, he knew Diana; he didn't know the guy. They were obviously here to see Rebecca though. Relieve her of her duty? See if she was okay? Give her a week off?

Whatever it was, Damon hoped it wasn't bad. Rebecca didn't need anymore bad news.

* * *

Inside the hospital, Rebecca got done talking to Matt almost as soon as he answered. She found she couldn't say much besides "I'm Sorry." She'd realized her mistake in calling Matt when she realized she didn't know what to say. How did she have the right to say anything when she had known where Vicki was all this time and hadn't told him, just to put him out of his misery, at least, but . . . she'd _had_ to make sure he was okay. Matt was a pretty stable person - he'd get by. And Rebecca felt sorry for Mrs. Donovan even though she couldn't stand the woman. Kelly would just use this as an excuse to become even more of an alcoholic than she already was. Rebecca's call would've been cut short, anyway, by Diana coming in the room. She was with another guy. He looked . . . snooty. Snooty and uptight, and he was obviously a Watcher, or he was associated with the Watcher's Council in some way. Which meant they were both in on drugging her.

_Must be the Cruciamentum. You can thank your Watcher for that. See what happens is . . . if the Slayer makes it to her eighteenth birthday, she gets put through a test. She has to face a vampire without her strength. If she wins, she passes. If she fails, however, she dies and the next Slayer is chosen._

"Rebecca?" Diana's voice was soft and regretful. Rebecca could tell she really was sorry for what had happened. It didn't change the fact that it had and that Rebecca was pissed because of it.

"Happy birthday to me," Rebecca said bitterly. "I guess I passed your little test."

"That was not to be your test," the old man said, stepping forward. "Forgive me. We haven't been properly introduced. I'm Quentin Travers. Director of the Watcher's Council."

"Ah, part of the plot to drug me and have me killed?"

Quentin, with his gray hair - what, was he in his sixties? - spoke again. He was so obviously the superior. "What happened to you was an unfortunate coincidence. One that you are responsible for, I believe. You helped free the vampires from their . . . prison."

Rebecca looked at Diana. She must've known somehow and then reported back to Quentin like a good little Watcher.

"Oh, yes. Diana has made sure to follow your every move. And . . . if her information is correct . . . you're not killing vampires, you're seeing one romantically. Damon Salvatore, is it?"

Rebecca set her jaw and refused to speak. She wouldn't say anything incriminating.

"I made it to my eighteenth birthday. Do I pass?" she asked, when she chose to speak again.

"Traditionally speaking - "

"I'm not much for tradition," she interrupted. "You can go back to the Mother Country now, Mr. Travers. I have no use for you here. And I would like to speak to Diana alone."

And so the old man left. Rebecca vaguely wondered if Damon had heard any of what had just occurred. If he had . . . Quentin would be dead before the night was through, and Rebecca really couldn't bring herself to care.

"I'm sorry. The . . . the test is old and cruel, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"You're a good Watcher, Diana," Rebecca said honestly. "But you're a lousy human being."

Diana knew she deserved that, it looked like. "If there's anything I can do . . ."

"Leave. Now. And never come back."

"What?"

"I refuse to train with someone I don't trust. So go and don't come back. I want you gone by the time I get out of here. That's when I plan on telling Damon, and if you're still in town when he finds out, he will kill you. What you did almost got me killed, and Damon doesn't forgive easily. But then you already know that, right?"

"Yes," Diana whispered. "Yet you're giving me a warning."

"You mean after everything you did? I don't wish death on anyone, Diana. I warned you and now what you do with it is up to you."

Rebecca shut her eyes and turned from Diana so the woman wouldn't see the tears in her eyes. She'd been hurt by Diana's betrayal - the woman had poisoned her. But she also felt as if a small weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Rebecca was still the Slayer, but she was no longer bound by the Council or her Watcher. She was a free agent.

* * *

"I'm free, I'm free!" Rebecca rejoiced, two days later, as her dad walked with her to the exit of the hospital. It was humiliating to have to be escorted out in a wheelchair, but it was hospital policy.

Tina and Robert were happy too. She was okay enough to be released. They planned on keeping her home for the rest of her natural life, but she was feeling better. That was what mattered.

She hadn't been able to go to Vicki's funeral but she knew Elena had helped Matt and his mom plan it. She was assuming Vicki had been cremated because there was no way Matt or his mom would've been able to see Vicki's body. Vicki had died while her vampire face had been in full affect.

Caroline had been helping with the cooking and things, she had probably driven Matt's mom crazy.

Bonnie hadn't come back yet, but Elena had told Rebecca that she'd told Bonnie about the tomb vampires getting free and kidnapping her and Stefan. Rebecca agreed that honesty was the best policy, but she wished Bonnie hadn't had to find out over the phone. It didn't feel right.

During Rebeca's stay in the hospital she'd been visited by Anna, who had apologized for what had happened, and Rebecca had accepted it readily enough. Rebecca knew it wasn't Anna's fault, nor was it Pearl's. Anna had brought Rebecca's cell phone back, which Rebecca hadn't even known had been missing until Anna handed it over.

Sarah had even come with Damon once. He'd grudgingly brought the girl to shut her up. They had had to come at night, of course, but . . . she had still insisted on coming. Stefan had come with them and he looked deeply unwell. He obviously hadn't healed up as well as she had. She felt bad for him, but she didn't know what to say to him about it, so she chose to say nothing at all.

She hadn't heard from Chase at all and she figured that had a lot to do with Damon. Whatever the reason, she was thankful because she couldn't have put up with seeing Chase when she was this vulnerable. She might've actually gotten scared - because he did scare her; she knew he was capable of hurting her on purpose.

* * *

The day Rebecca got out of the hospital was the day the other shoe dropped, like Damon had expected it to. He'd talked to Tina and she'd said Rebecca was just going to rest for the day. Damon thought that was the best thing for her. He even joked that they would be back in the hospital soon because they'd have to make frequent trips for Tina's baby - ultrasounds and such. The woman's laughter made him smile - she'd been way too tense the past few days. It wasn't good for her or the baby.

_Not that I . . . care_, Damon thought, not convincingly.

He didn't know whether Tina was going to have a girl or a boy, and at this stage she probably didn't either. She wanted to be surprised, which he didn't understand because how was she going to plan everything if she didn't know the sex of the child. Hopefully she didn't buy all yellow things; that would be boring. Then he stopped himself from thinking about that because, who cared? It was not _his_ baby, so . . . yeah.

It was as he was thinking those things, and also thinking that he never would've thought about those things before Rebecca - that he stopped mid-step because he smelled blood. It was coming from Stefan's room, but it wasn't Stefan's blood. It wasn't anyone's that Damon knew, either.

_Uh-oh_, was his first thought. He entered the room and saw Stefan huddled in the corner, holding a blood bag. He was leaning over it almost protectively, like he thought Damon might try and take it away from him. He looked like a starved animal - which if Damon looked at it in a "not having what you crave" standpoint . . . Stefan was starved. There was also a look of self-loathing, like he hated himself for not being strong enough to resist. But Damon knew what was wrong. Elena's blood had awakened a craving in Stefan that had been denied for too long. The moment Stefan had swallowed Elena's blood - Elena's gift to him, to keep him alive - Stefan had been lost.

"Well, I guess you're giving the squirrels a break now, huh?"

That had been the day Rebecca had been released from the hospital; this was the next day. And music was filling the boardinghouse and keeping Damon on edge, as well as the newest vampire. Sarah was looking like she was about to go bananas. Damon was in the middle of pouring them both a little blood from a blood bag when he thought maybe . . . Stefan might drink some too. Really, it was the best thing for his brother; Stefan couldn't learn to control himself if he didn't try.

So Damon went to Stefan's room, the source of all the noise, and saw Stefan was doing some rigorous exercise routine. Trying to distract himself, maybe?

"Could you turn it up a little bit? It's not annoying _yet_."

"Sorry."

Damon turned the music off and asked, "When're you going back to school?"

"Soon." Stefan began doing pushups, pointedly ignoring the glass of blood in Damon's hand.

"Oh, come on, just drink already."

Stefan had been trying to pretend like his little incident hadn't happened. Three blood bags and then nothing. He hadn't fed since.

"Come on, this self-detox, it's not natural."

"Could you get that away from me, please?"

"How long did it take you to wean yourself off of it after you last _indulged_?" Stefan didn't answer. "That's not good."

"I'll be fine. It just take a little bit of time."

"I don't get it. You don't have to kill to survive. You know, that's what blood banks are for. I haven't hunted a human in - God, way too long."

"Oh, I'm impressed."

"It's completely self-serving," Damon admitted. "I'm trying to get the town off the trail of vampires, which is _not_ very easy considering there's an entire tomb of them running around."

"What _are_ we planning on doing about that?" Stefan asked, now focused on the problem at hand. Another distraction.

"You're not gonna be doing much of anything if you don't have your strength. There's nothing wrong in partaking in a healthy diet of human blood from a blood bank. You're not actually killing anyone."

"I have my reasons," Stefan said.

"What are those holier-than-thou reasons? We've never really discussed that." Damon sat down in a chair, waiting. "You know, I-I'd really love to hear this story."

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you? Just, uh, watching me struggle."

"Very much so." Damon was only enjoying it because Stefan brought most of his misery - in this respect - on himself.

"I hate to break it to you, Damon, but I actually have it under complete control."

"You do?"

"Mm-hm."

"Oh. Well, then you should just carry on making the rest of us vampires look bad."

As long as Stefan didn't cause trouble - he couldn't believe he was thinking that because _he_ was the troublemaker - he wasn't going to force his help on Stefan. He left the room. deliberately leaving the blood behind; it was a test of Stefan's restraint. He didn't hear Stefan move, so he rushed back in and grabbed the glass, feigning forgetfulness.

Then he left Stefan to his cravings; they had to be killing him.

* * *

That same day Rebecca went to have lunch with Elena at the school; she was sitting with Matt. Rebecca was surprised he was back in school so soon. She gave him a hug and apologized for not being able to be with him during everything that had happened since Vicki had been found.

"Uh, I think you've had problems of your own to deal with. How're you doing?"

"I'm okay." Rebecca knew that the story for the town was that she'd been kidnapped by regular people since the town didn't know about vampires, and that she'd escaped, not unscathed, with a little help from Damon. "I'm still a little sore, but I'll be fine."

Rebecca sat down beside Elena and slumped against the table. She still got tired easily; she hadn't even been able to take a shower earlier without losing her breath. Eventually she'd given up and called Tina in to help her. Tina had washed her hair for her; it hurt to lift her arms above her head because of her ribs being bruised.

"So guess who showed up at my doorstep this morning," Elena said. "Uncle John."

"I never really liked that guy," Matt remarked.

"Does anyone?" Elena asked.

John was Grayson Gilbert's brother. Elena didn't like him, Jeremy only tolerated him, Jenna couldn't stand him. Rebecca . . . well, she didn't have to live with the man, so she withheld her opinion, _but_ she thought he was as slippery as a weasel.

"How long is he staying?" Rebecca asked.

"He said his stay is open-ended."

"What does he want?" John always had an agenda; he usually wasn't crafty about it.

"I don't know. He just showed up. Jenna said he called to say he was coming, but I didn't know he was."

"I'm here for moral support if you need me," Matt said.

"Thanks. But I think I'll suffer this one alone. You've been through enough."

Matt nodded and his deep blue eyes softened. "Thank you, by the way, for just . . . For everything you did at Vicki's funeral and her memorial. I couldn't have done it without you."

"Of course, Matt," Elena said sincerely. "So, is Caroline still baking for you guys around the clock?"

"She finally went to her dad's, which was a good thing because my mom was gonna strangle her if she dropped off more lasagna."

Rebecca laughed. She could imagine Caroline being overly helpful. She would mean well, of course, but Caroline sometimes lacked the button that told her when to back off. Sometimes it was endearing; at other times it was obnoxious.

After Rebecca was through talking to Matt and Elena she went in search of Jeremy. She hadn't seen him since the day he'd visited her in the hospital. She found him hanging at a picnic table with an ear bud shoved in his ear. When she sat down he removed it.

"Hey, you're up running around, I see," he said.

"Yeah. I got bored at home." She grabbed his hand and squeezed. "I heard about Vicki. I wanted to talk to you sooner, but, uh, my dad had me under house arrest . . . How're you doing?"

"Been better," he said honestly.

"Right. Um . . . would it make you feel better if I told you the truth today? Or do you wanna wait? It's completely up to you."

Before Jeremy could answer, Tyler sat down and offered both of them a joint. Jeremy shook his head, but Rebecca was sorely tempted. She'd never experienced a marijuana high before, but she had to drive home so she refused. Plus, she needed to stay sharp and pot totally went against that.

Things were quiet for a second, and then Tyler said, "They say she OD'd."

Tyler wanted to talk about Vicki? He and Jeremy had her in common, so it made sense Tyler would talk to him about her.

"That's what I don't get. She was doin' okay," Jeremy said.

"Apparently not," Tyler said, not unkindly. Rebecca wondered if this was Tyler's idea of bonding.

"How'd she end up buried in the woods, that's what I don't understand."

"By whoever was with her when she OD'd," Tyler said.

"You leave her there. You don't take the time to bury her."

"Maybe she saw something and . . . Hell, man, I don't know."

Rebecca stayed silent throughout the conversation because she knew if she spoke she would give herself away and she couldn't have that happening, not with Tyler around.

"Okay, so . . . I've gotta go, but, uh . . . Jer, call if you wanna talk, okay? And, Tyler, I know you cared about her and I'm sorry." Tyler hadn't shown that he cared about Vicki very well, but he had cared about her nonetheless.

Tyler nodded and she walked away. She had her dad's car again and, when she got to the parking lot, she had to sit there a while to catch her breath just from walking across campus. She maybe should've _not_ chosen that day to become active again.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she drew it out.

"Hello?"

"Hi," Damon said. "You sound out of breath. Thinkin' about me?"

She giggled, the tension from the past half-hour drifting away quickly. She loved that he could do that without even trying.

"Not right now. I, um, I was visiting Elena and Jeremy at school. Hadn't seen them for a while. Did you need something?

"Yeah, are you coming over? We need to . . . talk."

"Uh-oh. This doesn't sound good. But I need to talk to you, too."

"Bad news?"

"Depends on how you look at it. Be there shortly."

So when she got there she went in without knocking. She was not in the mood to go searching for Damon, so she waited for him to come to her. He appeared behind her. She bit her lip and turned around.

"Hi," she said, smiling.

"Hi," he repeated back, a smile also gracing his mouth.

Damon kissed her tenderly and she almost forgot she was there for a reason. She had to admit, though, that she had missed this.

"Uh . . . talking, remember? That's what we're here for."

"Mm, but this is much more fun."

"It is, but . . . what I have to say is important. I am no longer bound by the Watcher's Council. I quit. Or I was fired. Point is I no longer work for them. I'm still . . . ya know, the Slayer, but I sent Diana away. She won't be coming back. Unless she's stupid."

"Why? What happened?"

"She almost got me killed. It wasn't Chase who drugged me, Damon. It was Diana."

She told him how she found out about the Cruciamentum from Fredrick, and how she'd had the theory confirmed by Diana herself. She also told him how she'd given Diana time to leave because she knew Damon would be pissed. And he was. His eyes said it all; he usually looked a little deranged when he was mad enough to kill. She feared for whoever he took his anger out on.

"Um . . . what did you want?" she asked him, since he had called her.

Damon shook his head, obviously putting his anger in the back of his mind for now. "John Gilbert. What do you know about him?"

"Elena's uncle, her father's brother, and he's here. Pretty much it."

"Huh." Damon grabbed her hand and led her out the front door that she had just come out of. "Do you like him?"

"Nobody likes him. Why?"

Damon nodded toward the garage off to the side of the house. "Come walk with me. We can take a ride."

"O . . . kay. You're not kidnapping me for the day, are you?"

"As fun as that sounds, no. Anyway, I had a meeting with the council today, and he was there. He said someone's been stealing blood from a hospital near here. It's not me, so . . ."

"The vampires from the tomb," Rebecca deduced. "Well, if that's all they're doing, that's not -"

"A few people have gone missing, too. He thinks it's connected."

"Oh. And we're going to believe him?"

Damon shrugged. "Liz is checking it out. She doesn't like him either. Says he's a jackass."

"Yup. Pretty much how I'd describe him. Uh . . . Jeremy wants to see me later, so I could have dinner at his house, spy or whatever."

"See if he's up to something, yeah."

Damon stopped in front of the garage door and bent down to lift the sliding door up. He had a surprise for Rebecca, but he knew she wouldn't accept it right away. Not unless he appealed to her common sense.

"Okay, so don't get angry and don't say no before you think about it hard. But . . . you know how we talked about you getting a car . . ."

Rebecca narrowed her eyes and looked at him suspiciously. "Yes . . ."

"Well . . ." Damon moved out of her way and knew what she would see. A black - jet black - 1969 Dodge Charger. He had spent the last week trying to figure out what kind of car to get her and he went with a classic because of the huge factor of the older cars being made better than the newer ones.

"Oh . . . Damon . . . this is . . . This is an amazingly expensive car!" Rebecca almost shrieked. "Tell me you didn't trade in your car for this."

"Of course I didn't trade my car in, but I did get this for you. You _need_ a car. You can't use your dad's forever. Besides it's your birthday present." So Rebecca wouldn't have time to protest, he changed the subject. "So, the Slayer thing. What does it mean that you quit? You go back to being a normal human now?"

"No," she said, smiling. "I keep my strength and all, but I . . . I can do what I want now. I can do it my way."

"Oh, vampires of the world beware," he quipped, and laughed when she tapped him on the chest. "Was that supposed to hurt?"

"Shut up. I don't have my strength back yet."

He pulled her to him and smirked, "Well, once you do . . . _I_ am going to take full advantage of that fact."

Her cheeks flushed and he chuckled. How could she be so brazen yet so bashful at the same time? Youth maybe?

"So, the Founder's Day kickoff party is tomorrow. Do you feel like going?"

"Yeah, sure. Just no strenuous dancing." She eyed the Charger again. "Now, about this car . . . How about we take it for a test drive?"

Damon grinned, glad she was accepting the gift, and pulled the keys out of his jeans pocket. She caught them easily when he tossed them to her.

* * *

"Okay, I love this car," Rebecca said, though she was still a bit hesitant about accepting such an expensive gift even if it was from Damon. "Was money spent on this? Or did you compel someone?"

"Cash," Damon answered. "Stop obsessing and accept it gracefully."

Rebecca wanted to accept it gracefully, but she'd never been given a gift that cost as much as a car before. It was kind of hard to just take it.

"You paid straight out cash for this?"

"I've been around a long time, remember? I've been able to cash in on pretty much anything I thought was worth while. Microsoft, for one. Bought stock in that the minute I knew it was going to change the world."

"Wow, smart and handsome . . . lethal combination, Mr. Salvatore."

They were on an old country road now. A back road that would only hold one lane only; if two cars happened to be going opposite directions, one had to pull over to let the other one by. Rebecca felt free driving fast and kind of recklessly, but that was what these kinds of cars were built for, she thought. They didn't go far, though, thirty miles or so, before turning back around.

Rebecca didn't know how to say thank you for the car. A simple "Thank you" wouldn't be enough, would it? She _did_ need a car, but when Damon had brought it up before, she hadn't know he was going to get her _this_ type of car. And where was she going to keep it? She was going to have to tell everyone where she got it when they asked, and normal boyfriends didn't just up and buy their girlfriend of . . . five months . . . a car, she didn't think.

Nonetheless, she wouldn't complain about it. Damon had done this for her, gotten it for her, because she needed a vehicle. It was still hard to just accept it, though.

* * *

Later that night, Rebecca found herself sitting with Jeremy and John at the kitchen table, eating Chinese food. Jenna was behind the counter, avoiding contact with John.

"I have no interest in the Founder's Day kickoff party."

The kickoff party was the beginning of a myriad of other events that eventually led to the Founder's Day parade. They were the same old parties every year, but most of the Founder's people enjoyed them.

"Sure you do," John said to Jeremy. "It's tradition."

"Far be it for us to break tradition," Jenna muttered.

"The Gilberts have been a part of this town for a hundred and fifty years. One of the founding families, and with that distinction come certain obligations, including going to the party."

Jeremy, Jenna, and Rebecca rolled their eyes.

"One day, when you can appreciate the significance . . . I'll tell you all about your heritage."

"Hm. The Gilbert family legacy. I forgot how sacred it was," Jenna said. "I'm not a Gilbert, so I was never cool enough to hear it."

"Why does she hate you?" Jeremy asked John.

"Because we used to sleep together."

Jenna threw something at John - an egg-roll package, maybe - and Rebecca almost choked on a bite of rice.

"I am standing right here!" Jenna seethed.

While Jeremy and the others were finishing eating Rebecca went upstairs. Elena and Stefan were in Elena's room. She'd had every intention of knocking, but she heard the sound of glass breaking so she hurried into the room. Elena was on the bed, looking shocked; Stefan was on the floor looking . . . hungry. He'd knocked over some stuff, including a lamp.

"Stefan?" she said, and his head jerked toward her like a startled animal. She checked Elena over briefly but found she hadn't been harmed, so she looked at Stefan again. He looked calmer.

"I'm okay," he said, getting up now. "I, uh, I gotta go."

So he did leave, and Rebecca looked after him until she couldn't see him anymore. Then she focused on Elena, who was still breathing heavily in shock.

"What happened? Did he hurt you?"

Elena shook her head and when she spoke her voice was quavering. "He didn't. We were kissing and then he just sort of . . . lost it."

Rebecca nodded. She'd figured it was something like that. "It's the human blood. He, uh . . . doesn't do well when he drinks human blood. If he's trying to go back to animal blood, it's going to make him volatile for a while."

"For how long?" Elena asked.

"I don't know. I'm not an expert," Rebecca said. "But it was only a little bit of blood, so it shouldn't take too long. Just be careful, okay? You've never been around him when he's on the human stuff. Once he starts, he doesn't know how to stop."

Elena's eyes narrowed. "What d'you mean?"

"I _mean_ . . . Damon can stop when he wants to. Stefan can't. Stefan has taken out an entire village by himself one time."

Elena closed her eyes against the information and Rebecca felt sorry for being the one to tell her. _Stefan_ should've been the one, but Stefan wouldn't incriminate himself. Rebecca remembered that she'd told Stefan once that she would never tell Elena this because it wasn't her place, but since he wasn't going to tell Elena then . . . someone had to. Elena had the right to know.

Damon was a vampire and he sometimes killed people, but at least he was up front about it with her. That was part of the reason Rebecca loved him. He was who he was and that was all there was to it.

"You know, Elena . . . the vampire inside Stefan is there all the time. It's real. The human facade he uses . . . is a mask. The animal blood makes him feel more human, more stable. It's a choice he made and I respect it . . . but I've never forgotten what he is. Until he gets better, you shouldn't either."

* * *

Rebecca took Jeremy home with her so they could talk. It had been a long time coming. It had killed her not to bring Elena with her since Stefan had almost attacked Elena, but that would've been counterproductive; she couldn't talk to Jeremy with Elena there.

The two ended up in Rebecca's room and she told him about her Slayerness, her training, and how Diana had betrayed her. Really, without those details she couldn't have told him everything else. Her being a Slayer had started everything that had happened in her life for the past few months.

"I never trusted Diana, but it still hurt."

"I bet." Jeremy smiled softly. "I wondered why you weren't around as much, but now I know. You're like a superhero."

"You're pretty much the only one who feels that way," she said. Even she didn't feel that way. She sympathized with vampires too much and let them get away with things she probably shouldn't.

"Wait. Who all knows?"

Rebecca bit her lip and grinned. "Swear you to secrecy?"

"Of course," was Jeremy's immediate response.

"Okay."

She told him about Bonnie being a witch - because part of _her_ story had to do with witchcraft, to a certain degree. She even went into how Bonnie's Grams had died trying to reseal the tomb. Then, of course, she had to tell him about the tomb vampires. She even told him about Damon and Stefan, and only felt a small amount of guilt in doing so, but . . .

"Okay, that's something you _can't_ share with anyone because if Damon finds out that you know and he thinks you're a threat he will probably kill you." And, since she was the one telling Jeremy, it would be her fault if Jeremy betrayed their secret.

Jeremy seemed to take that in stride. "Death threat aside, I would never tell anyone. I don't know Damon very well, but I do know you, and I wouldn't betray you like that." It was like he'd known exactly what to say. And then something seemed to click for him. "Wait . . . Stefan is a vampire? Elena is dating a vampire? Does she know?"

Rebecca nodded. "She's known for a few months. She didn't tell you because she didn't want you getting caught up in all of this. But _I_ think it's safer for you to know. If you were my brother, I would've told you from the start."

There was a short silence and then . . . "How did you figure out Anna was a vampire?"

Rebecca had been wondering that since the night it had happened.

"A bunch of stuff, but mostly because I saw her face change. The night of the party by the cemetery . . . she tried to hide it, but I saw it anyway. And there was also a small thing at the dance at the school and her face changed then too."

"That'll do it."

Jeremy made himself comfortable beside her on the bed. "What's it like being with a vampire?"

"Depends on the vampire," she quipped. "Damon's fun. He . . . usually doesn't kill without a reason. Not since he's been with me, anyway. Maybe once, but I bitched him out for it."

"Bitched him out? I can't believe you said that."

Things went like that until Jeremy knew pretty much everything, except about Vicki because she really didn't know how to tell him that.. She left out anything that would incriminate Damon or Elena - she still cared about Elena even if Elena didn't agree with her dating choices. Jeremy ended up staying the night in her room, by her bed. _Rebecca _wouldn't have cared if Jeremy shared her bed, but Damon would have, so . . .

They played video games and watched movies and basically did what two normal teenage friends would do. It was nice. Jeremy hadn't judged her at all for being with Damon, a homicidal vampire. He'd had questions, of course, but he hadn't said anything negative about it.

Jeremy was more open-minded than his sister.

The only problem with having friends over for the night, Rebecca realized, was that Chelsea knew all of her friends and was just as excited that they were there as Rebecca was. Chelsea stayed up as long as she was able to but fell asleep around eleven. Rebecca hoped that meant Chelsea would sleep in in the morning so that _she_ could too.


	48. Chapter 43

Chapter Forty-Three

_I can't believe I'm doing this_, was Damon's thought when reached Elena's house Saturday morning. She had called him early that morning wanting to talk about Stefan. She was worried about something Rebecca had told her, but she hadn't said what. Now he was knocking on the door, waiting for her to open up.

"Oh, good, you're here," Elena said when she opened the door.

"You ask, I come. I'm easy like that," he teased, walking past Elena and into the house. As usual when Damon spoke Elena didn't even crack a smile. She'd obviously missed the line for a sense of humor when she was being created.

She led him upstairs to her room where he plopped down on the bed and began playing with a teddy bear that was on the pillows.

"Did you know that your uncle's been kickin' it with the Founder's council?"

"What?"

"Yep."

"Perfect." Elena sighed. "We'll just add it to the growing list of how everything's falling apart."

Damon took a quick survey of the room and noticed a few things had been knocked off the dresser and onto the floor; a lamp was in the middle of it all.

"What happened there?"

"Uh . . ." Elena looked at the mess. "Nothing."

Damon could tell she was lying so he stared at her. She couldn't return his gaze, so . . . yep, she was definitely lying.

"Look, Damon, I - I'm worried about Stefan. He says that everything's okay, but he's clearly struggling. How long is it gonna take before he's back to normal?"

"A few days, give or take," Damon said nonchalantly.

"That's what Becca said, but it's already been a few days."

"Give then. I don't know. What's the big deal?"

This conversation was already getting boring. Damon got up and handed the bear to Elena, who threw it back onto the bed. Damon wondered why Elena still had stuffed animals on her bed. Maybe Stefan wasn't doing his job right. Maybe Elena was lonely at night.

"He's not himself, Damon."

"Well, maybe the problem is that he's spent too long _not_ being himself."

Damon opened a drawer and found out it was her underwear drawer. Most of what Elena owned was cotton but she had a few lace things. He heard Elena groan, and she tore the material from his hands and shoved it back in the drawer.

"Don't make me sorry for asking you," she said, slamming the drawer shut and almost catching his fingers in it.

"It is what it is, Elena. The Stefan you know is good-behavior Stefan. Rein-it-in Stefan. Fight-against-his-nature-to-an-annoyingly-obsessive-level Stefan. But if you think that there isn't another part to this then _you_ haven't been paying attention."

"He is not you. Not even close."

"Well, maybe he doesn't wanna be me. But that doesn't mean deep down that he's not."

To Damon's surprise, Elena slumped down against the dresser and sighed, pushing her hair back from her face. Where was the snarky comeback? He waited for it for what seemed like ages, but it never came. Where was her usual spunk? Her fire? She was supposed to accuse him of being the bad one and he was supposed to make some comment on how he was supposed to be bad because he was a vampire. That was how they worked - or it was how they were supposed to work.

"Rebecca said that Stefan doesn't . . . He can't stop once he's started."

Ah, so she knew.

"That's very true," Damon said, more gently now. "Human blood makes him different."

"Then how do we help him?"

Elena, strong and stubborn Elena, sounded like a small child then and Damon didn't like it. Damon was supposed to be sarcastic and she was supposed to get mad at him for pretending not to care. That was how this worked for them. He wasn't supposed to be feeling sorry for Elena because her boyfriend was suddenly her worst nightmare come true.

"I don't know, Elena, but he's come back from it before. He'll be fine."

"Well, when he . . . when this happened before . . . how did he . . . um . . . how did he become okay again?"

"It was different each time," Damon admitted. "But . . . he hasn't had much human blood. It won't take as long this time." He didn't think. But Stefan did lack something he'd had every other time he'd gone crazy. And that was Lexi. Lexi had always found a way to pull Stefan back from the ledge. Lexi, however, was no longer alive.

Stefan would just have to find someone else to fall back on.

* * *

After Damon and Elena finished their conversation they went to Rebecca's. Elena had to talk to Jeremy, who had spent the night at Rebecca's. Damon was surprised that doubt didn't automatically flash in his mind about that. A few months ago it would've.

Rebecca was in the kitchen, cooking with Tina, when Damon and Elena walked in. Damon didn't even knock anymore. Rebecca didn't care, of course, because if she was there he really had no need to knock.

Robert had already left for work, so he wasn't there, but everyone else was in the kitchen. Jeremy, who was at the table with a plate in front of him, waiting to be served, was playing with Chelsea, who was in her highchair. It seemed to be the only thing that would keep Chelsea from fussing. She didn't like being in her high chair, apparently.

"Hello, Tina," Damon said. "You're looking beautiful as ever."

Rebecca rolled her eyes heavenward, but smiled when Tina accepted the compliment with grace. Tina had always liked Damon. It probably had something to do with Rebecca being happy with him.

Tina smiled at Damon, blushed, and shook her head. Damon moved on to his girlfriend.

"Hey," she said, smiling.

"Hey."

Damon slipped his hands onto her waist and leaned down to kiss her softly. He noticed Tina make her way out of the kitchen - probably because she didn't want to invade Rebecca's privacy.

"You got your dress ready for tonight?" he asked.

"Yup. You're gonna love it."

Damon kissed her again before breaking away to go to the coffee pot. He hadn't had anything to drink that day and he needed the caffeine to help make his skin warmer.

"Did you want pancakes?" Rebecca asked. "They're chocolate chip."

Damon smirked. "Well, in that case . . . definitely."

"Elena?"

"Sure," the brunette answered. "Two, please."

Damon went to his next favorite girl - the fussing baby in the highchair. There really was no way around it - he had to pick her up; she wouldn't stop fussing any other way. Or he just wanted to hold her. But Chelsea did stop crying almost instantly. She was so spoiled. Chelsea grabbed his shirt and giggled.

"Day!" Chelsea exclaimed. He loved when she tried to say his name. She couldn't pronounce his _whole_ name, but the fact that his name was one of the first words she'd learned . . . it meant something to him, because he meant something to her.

"Becca, I think you've ruined your sister for life," he said, no real insult in his voice.

"Well, you're not helping," she said finally. "Oh, well."

Damon noticed Elena watching on in interest, and in amusement, but Damon couldn't bring himself to care. Chelsea and Rebecca were more important than keeping up airs.

"Hey, Jer . . ." Elena stated, almost hesitant. "I need to talk to you about something. Damon and Rebecca already know and the only reason you don't know is because I didn't know how to bring it up to you."

Jeremy glanced at Rebecca, who shrugged slightly. She didn't know what Elena wanted to talk about. There were a cornucopia of topics that Elena hadn't thought to talk to Jeremy about.

"About a month-and-a-half ago I found out that . . . I was adopted."

_Don't sugarcoat it for him_, Rebecca thought dryly.

Rebecca saw Jeremy go still for a minute. He was looking from Elena to Rebecca and back again. She could tell Jeremy didn't know whether Elena was serious or not.

Elena began to explain, editing some parts. It came to this: Elena said Jenna explained it to her because Elena's parents weren't there to do it. Elena had gotten curious and had wanted to know more about her birth parents, so Jenna had helped her dig up some information. Alaric Saltzman was basically Elena's step-father, because his dead wife had been the one to give birth to Elena.

"I can't believe Mom and Dad didn't tell you," Jeremy said.

"I'm sure they would've eventually," Elena said.

Jeremy nodded. "I don't get it, though, why were you worried about what _I_ thought?"

"Because . . . I don't know, it's weird. Going your whole life thinkin' you're related by blood to somebody . . . only to find out you're not."

Jeremy looked down at the empty plate in front of him. "Does it bug you that we're not?" He sounded insecure.

"No. Jer, you're my brother. That's all that matters."

Jeremy smiled the smile that Rebecca had always thought was adorable, but he didn't speak.

"So Mr. Saltzman said you've been doing great in history."

"Yeah, he's really been helping me out. He gave me some extra credit and stuff."

Elena nodded knowingly. "He loved your vampire paper."

"Yeah." Jeremy didn't miss a beat. "He thought I had a clever angle."

Rebecca noticed Damon had tensed when the vampire thing had come up. He was probably wondering exactly how much Jeremy knew.

"He got his information from Jonathan Gilbert's journal," Rebecca supplied so Damon would know Jeremy hadn't gotten the information from _her_.

When Damon finally got Rebecca alone he gave her a much more thorough kiss than he had earlier given her when they'd been in the presence of everyone else. He respected her too much to make her look like a floozy around her friends - or anyone, for that matter. When he pulled away she pouted.

"Hey, a girl needs more than _that_," she teased and kissed him again.

"Mm . . ." Her tongue flicked over his bottom lip. "At your service." His tone had been deliberately seductive, and he was gratified when he felt her shiver.

"Tonight . . . I'm going to hold you to that," she whispered, kissing him one more time. When she pulled away she was no longer playful; she was serious.

"What?"

"Diana called this morning. She's gone, by the way, but she left her apartment to me. It's paid up for the year. It leaves us enough time to get her books and the weapons she left behind. In case I needed them, she left them. All I have to do is sign the paper."

"And . . ."

Rebecca shrugged. "The books and stuff might come in handy. I don't want to use her apartment, so I'm gonna let the lease run out. I was hoping I could use one of your rooms at the boardinghouse as a storage place, maybe a weight room."

"Sure, it's not like we're using them for anything else."

"Great." She kissed him once more. "So, did you come over just to bring Elena, or . . ."

"I need an excuse to see you now?"

"No, just wondering."

Rebecca stepped out of Damon's arms and went toward the coffee maker.

"It's weird, this dance thing. Usually Bonnie's here, and Caroline. And Elena. We used to get dressed for dances together, do each others hair and make-up. But Bonnie's with her aunt, and Caroline's with her dad. Elena has her own drama to deal with . . ."

Damon watched her pour a cup of coffee and add cream and sugar to it. Then she poured a vial of clear liquid into the glass.

"Vervain?" Damon asked. "Since when do you ingest vervain?"

Rebecca looked away for a second. "It's . . . it's only until Stefan gets his stuff together. I'm not going to take chances with that. Last time I was around him when he went crazy he tried to kill me."

"Oh. I've been thinkin' about that, actually. Not him trying to kill you, but the blood thing. I've been trying to get him to drink. Just from a blood bag, but he won't do it."

Rebecca didn't say anything to that, so Damon didn't know what she was thinking. What she was thinking, however, was . . . What if it came down to a fight between her and Stefan? How exactly could she take care of Stefan without hurting Damon?

* * *

That night, Rebecca went to the Founders Day party with Robert. Robert drove her there, but she was supposed to meet Damon at some point. Tina had opted to stay home and watch over Chelsea, but she had helped Rebecca get ready. Rebecca was wearing a slinky white dress that came down to the middle of her thighs. It swirled when she turned around. Her whole body had a sort of natural glow to it. She figured Damon would appreciate it. The thing she liked most about the outfit, however, was the gold belt that looped around her waist. There was a soft, dangly tassel that hung from the end of it. The sleeves of the dress were bell-shaped and they hung loosely over her shoulders. Tina said it made her look like an angel; Rebecca thought it made her look like a virgin sacrifice. She was neither. Rebecca was feeling much better - non-existent strength not included - and she had no intention of acting like an angel or a virgin after the party.

Rebecca spent fifteen minutes chatting with stuffy old people - well, old-ish anyway - while listening to elevator music - Carol Lockwood was in charge of that particular aspect of the party. Rebecca was already bored. She'd talked to Elena, had seen Jeremy, had spoken briefly to Liz, and had avoided John. The mayor was there, somewhere, which made sense because the Lockwoods were the ones who were hosting the party. She'd also seen Matt and Mrs. Donovan somewhere.

Stefan and Damon finally showed up. Damon was as calm as usual, but Stefan looked nervous and uncomfortable.

"Oh, God. I shouldn't be here," Stefan said. It was obvious he didn't have confidence in his ability to control himself.

"Oh, come on. Don't be a downer. It's a party for the founding families. That would be us. It would be rude to skip it."

Rebecca was just about to comment on the fact that Damon had never cared about being rude before, but as soon as she got close enough he was kissing her on the cheek.

"I . . . really liked you better when you hated everybody," Stefan said to Damon.

"Oh, I still do. I just _love that they love me_."

Rebecca shook her head but giggled anyway. Damon had the council eating out of the palm of his hand. Nobody suspected he was a vampire at all. She didn't know if that was due to Damon's fabulous manipulation skills or the town's almost comical stupidity.

Rebecca noticed that Stefan still seemed out of his element here. She hoped it had nothing to do with all the beating hearts here so close in this room.

"How're you feeling?" Rebecca asked sincerely. It was true she was worried about Stefan, but she was also worried about everybody else here, too. If Stefan lost control, it would turn into a blood bath.

"I'm good. I'm fine," Stefan said quickly. Too quickly. So _of course_ he was fine.

"No cravings? No urges?" Damon asked, and Rebecca had a feeling he was deliberately being unhelpful. "Is that whiskey you've been drinkin' all day doin' its job?"

Stefan forced a smile onto his face but glared at Damon at the same time.

"We are who were are, Stefan. Pretending doesn't change that."

"Nothing would make you happier than to just see me give in, huh, Damon?"

"Whatever." Damon shrugged. "It's inevitable."

Stefan rolled his eyes. "I'm gonna go find Elena."

"Don't embarrass me, young man."

Stefan had obviously had enough of Damon's attitude. Rebecca didn't say anything, but she wondered why Damon was giving Stefan such a hard time. She didn't want the answer to be "Because he's Stefan."

Once Stefan left Rebecca looked at Damon. "Is it safe for him to be here?"

"One way to find out. He's been resisting all day."

Rebecca didn't think that would bode well for the people around Stefan - meaning the people at the party.

* * *

Rebecca and Damon weren't literally attached at the hip, so they left each others sides so they could mingle. Rebecca didn't plan on staying for long - definitely not for the whole party - so she had to make her rounds as soon as she could.

The main reason she didn't stay with Damon, though, was because she saw Matt and his mom being led away by the mayor and Tyler. She knew Matt and Kelly had only been invited because of the recent Vicki incident.

After the mayor and Tyler were done with whatever they were doing Rebecca went up to Matt and gave him a hug. She even apologized to Kelly about Vicki.

"Well, I guess dead kid rates a special greeting from the mayor, huh?" Kelly said. "I need a drink."

Kelly walked off, leaving an upset Matt behind. Then Tyler came back in with a full bottle of bourbon.

"Your dad is gonna beat you down if he catches you," Matt said.

"Yeah, let him try." Tyler opened the bottle and handed it to Matt, who took a swig. Tyler took a drink too, and passed the bottle to Rebecca.

She bit her lip. God, she really shouldn't, but . . . "What the hell?" she muttered. She deserved a little fun, anyway. After a few sips each, Tyler put the bottle on the table so they could just grab for it when they wanted it.

"How're you doing?" Tyler asked Rebecca. "Since . . . whatever happened?"

"I'm okay," Rebecca answered. "I'm resilient, so I get by."

Matt noticed his mom outside the room and at the bar. He rolled his eyes. "Guess I should quit now, so I can be the responsible one." He left. Rebecca didn't know if he was going to confront Kelly or if he was just going to get Kelly and leave, but Matt left Tyler and Rebecca alone.

That didn't last long because Tyler was already getting drunk, and he was steadily moving closer to her. She didn't like it, so she quickly left the room also. She saw Kelly was still at the bar. So were Stefan and Elena - Stefan was drinking.

She heard Elena ask Stefan if he was drunk, and Stefan's reply way, "Okay, I know it's a little weird, but it's really helping me. The alcohol, it takes the edge off."

"You're totally that drunk high-school guy at the party sneaking booze," Elena said. "How worried do I need to be?"

"Oh, no. You don't need to be worried. It's just until the cravings go away."

"You know, I think you can get a bit more volume if you speak from the diaphragm," Rebecca said, stopping by Elena. "Sloppy, Stefan. Taking so loudly."

"I'm drunk," Stefan said. "I think we should enjoy it while it lasts." He looked at Elena. "Would you like to dance with me?"

"You hate dancing," Elena said. "I usually have to beg you."

"No, you have to beg sober me. Drunk me, there's no begging necessary."

Rebecca giggled. Who know Stefan could be funny?

"There's really no one dancing."

"That's because they need something to dance to," Stefan said, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Be right back."

"Wow," Rebecca said. "Has Mr. Uptight finally embraced the art of manipulation?"

A modern pop beat filtered through the speakers. Stefan had compelled the DJ to play something besides slow piano music. Stefan sauntered back and, seeing that Elena was less than happy with his recent action, grabbed Rebecca's hand instead and swirled her onto the dance floor.

"Hey, wrong girl!" Rebecca exclaimed.

"It's just a dance," Stefan said.

"Yeah, just a dance," Rebecca said. "With your brother's girl."

"You always care about what Damon thinks?"

"Yes, actually. Just like you usually care about what Elena thinks, so . . ." Elena, however, was dancing with an intoxicated Matt. "Fine, it's just a dance." And it wasn't a slow song so she guessed it was okay. But she'd much rather be dancing with Damon.

Where was he, anyway?

* * *

Damon was mingling. He'd spoken to Ric, who had been invited because he was a teacher, the mayor and his wife - they were the host and hostess, respectively - and now he was moving on to the sheriff. She was in the crowd of people and she looked decidedly uncomfortable in her black dress.

"I love a woman in uniform, but I have to side with this look. You look - you look smashing."

"Thank you, Damon. I needed that."

Damon smiled. He was glad he had eased her tension, somewhat.

"You know, I had my doubts about you. At first. But like everyone else on the council, you've won me over."

"Thanks, Liz. It's - it's really nice how welcoming the council has been. I like my life here in Mystic Falls. It's starting to feel like home again."

"Well, then you're not gonna like what I have to tell you. Jonathan Gilbert's claims check out. The blood banks, the missing people, all of it's true. We might have a problem."

Before Damon could offer a solution Jeremy Gilbert cut into the conversation.

"Excuse me, Sheriff. I was wondering if you had anymore information on what happened to Vicki Donovan."

"It was an overdose, Jeremy," Liz said, stating what Damon knew had been written on the police report.

"Yeah, but her body was buried. Somebody must've done that."

"We're aware of that. The investigation is ongoing, but there's nothing more I can tell you at this time."

Jeremy walked away unsatisfied, and Damon kind of felt sorry for the kid. He just wanted answers and . . . God, Jeremy would probably go to Rebecca and Damon didn't know how many more times Rebecca would lie to him just to keep Elena happy.

Damon decided the way to deal with it was to drink bourbon so he made his way to the bar. Elena was also at the bar and she was shaking her head. He noticed what the brunette was looking at; Stefan was . . . Stefan was dancing with Rebecca. Now who had given Stefan permission to do that? Damon sure hadn't.

"Have you noticed what your brother's been up to?" Elena asked.

"Nope. I've been too preoccupied with yours," Damon said, setting beside her. Damon was completely lying. Of course he'd noticed what Stefan was doing - especially since Stefan was dancing with _his _girlfriend. "Jeremy's been asking questions about Vicki Donovan's death."

"He knows that her death was ruled an overdose," Elena said.

"Really?" Damon lowered his voice. "Oh, but, Sheriff, someone buried her, who would do that?" Damon mimicked Jeremy before using his own voice. "I know, I know! Me! I mean, I could compel him, but he's wearing vervain."

"No," Elena said, pointing her finger in his face. "I don't want you to compel him."

"If he keeps asking questions?"

"Damon, no. I'm serious. I'm not gonna do that to him again."

Damon sighed. "Okay. But don't say I didn't warn you."

* * *

One dance ended up being about four or five dances. Rebecca found she didn't really mind. Drunk Stefan was almost as fun as a sober Damon. She saw Damon talking to Elena and she hoped Damon wasn't going to get mad at her for dancing with his brother. Damon and Stefan were trying to get along better, but that didn't mean Damon liked Stefan sharing his people.

Once Stefan found another dancing partner Rebecca was free to go to the bar and talk to Elena and Damon. Or that had been the plan, anyway, until she noticed two people who were also at the bar. John Gilbert and Chase Carson. She didn't care for either of them. Why was Chase at this party, anyway? He wasn't part of the council, so it didn't make sense for him to be at the party, and his family hadn't been one of the founding families either.

_Maybe he's here for me_, Rebecca thought. She couldn't help the shiver that ran through her at that thought. It was like her body was already preset to feel fear whenever it was about Chase. On the other hand . . . at least she was scared of something. She was capable of feeling fear. Until her recent kidnapping, not much had scared her.

Instead of going to Damon and risking having to talk to John or Chase, Rebecca changed her course and went in search of Jeremy or Ric or Jenna or - basically anyone who wasn't John or Chase.

It would've worked had Chase not followed her; he even had the audacity to ask her to dance with him. Rebecca knew he'd been spending a lot of time with Sarah, trying to prove he actually cared about her, but that didn't make anything okay between _them_. A few days of kindness toward his sister didn't undo the hell he'd put Rebecca through when they'd been together.

"No, I won't dance with you. I don't like you."

"It wasn't always like that," Chase muttered.

"No, but how you treated me erased anything positive I may have felt for you at one time."

"Oh, and I'm sure Damon Salvatore, serial killer, treats you so much better."

Rebecca's eyes widened at the casualness at the statement.

"Shh! You can't say things like that in public."

"Dance with me and I won't," he promised.

She narrowed her eyes and her mouth tightened into a thin line. Was he really going to play this game with her? He always had liked exerting control over her. Maybe she could play along for a while . . . let him _think_ she was submitting to him, anyway. Maybe it would get him to open up a bit.

"One dance," she agreed. "But keep your hands to yourself."

* * *

Damon was watching Stefan dance with pretty much every girl at the party. He wished he had a camcorder because Stefan was dancing and making a fool of himself. Blackmail material, if only he could capture the moment.

Damon had seen Rebecca start to come over to him and Elena but he'd also seen her change her mind. Assuming she just needed her space, he let her be. Then he'd spotted Chase, who had followed Rebecca. He didn't know what the vampire was up to, but Chase got Rebecca to dance with him. Now he wondered what _Rebecca_ was up to.

Damon took his glass of bourbon and went outside. He didn't know why, but the Lockwoods used the upstairs dance room whenever they held a party. Since he was upstairs, he went out on the balcony.

He wanted to know what game Rebecca was playing. She wouldn't have been dancing with Chase if she wasn't playing an angle.

* * *

"Okay, you got your one dance, so I'm gonna go now," Rebecca said, pulling away slightly.

Chase drew her back to him quickly, but not roughly. "One more. Or . . . or I could go tell the sheriff about your boyfriend and his brother."

Rebecca sighed and shook her head. "So that's how it's gonna be, huh? I'm stronger than you now, so you have to find another way to control me? You can't really tell anyone about Damon or Stefan without endangering yourself, you idiot." Rebecca shuddered at the feel of Chase's hands on her waist. "You know you're digging yourself an early grave. Damon will come after you for messing with me."

She pulled away again and this time he let her go. Se let a mental _humph_ fill her as she strolled away. She guessed Chase was afraid of Damon, rightfully so.

Rebecca noticed dancing with Elena again, and Stefan was at the bar, so that's where Rebecca went.

"Can you get me a drink?" she asked him. "Please?"

"What do you want?"

"I don't know. Nothing too strong, and nothing nasty."

She ended up with an almost virgin screwdriver. It was good enough, but she was surprised Stefan hadn't reprimanded her for it. Well . . . it would've been hypocritical if he had - he was almost too drunk to stand straight.

Stefan went to dance with Elena and Rebecca watched in amusement. Usually Stefan was not a dancer, but he'd obviously had enough alcohol to lower his inhibitions. It was entertaining. He wasn't killing anybody, so she liked him better like this.

Jeremy ended up seated beside her and she smiled softly at him.

"Hey," he said. "What's Chase up to now?"

"You saw us dancing, huh?"

"Yup."

She shook her head. "He's being an ass, that's what he's up to. He's threatening to tell everyone about you-know-what."

"So kick his ass. I know you can," Jeremy said.

Rebecca giggled behind her hand. "Right, because violence solves everything." And then more seriously, "I can't. Not here, not in public."

Jeremy didn't stay with her for long, but the vacant seat was soon taken by Alaric Saltzman, who ordered a bourbon. She looked at him and noticed for the first time that he had a sort of warm, shy charm about him. Shy but confident. Had she been older and not with Damon she might have found him attractive.

Rebecca shook her head when she realized how wrong she'd been about him. She hadn't liked him at first because he'd been up to something. But now she could see he was a really good guy who missed his wife. Even if said wife had chosen vampirism over him, which Rebecca didn't get, personally. Sure, Rebecca wasn't planning on staying human, but that was because she was with Damon and it would be selfish of her to be with him if she wasn't planning on changing. She wouldn't make Damon watch her grow old and die.

"How're you doing?" Ric asked softly.

When she looked at him she saw he really wanted to know. He wasn't only asking out of politeness.

"I'm okay. Almost recovered completely."

"You heal impossibly fast," he said, eying her in wonder. "How?"

Apparently Damon hadn't told Ric about her Slayer business.

"I'm the Slayer. I think I'm defective, though, because I'm dating one of the people I was designed to kill." The last part was said as a joke but she sobered up to speak again. "I'm sorry about your wife. And I know Damon didn't deserve your help, but thank you for helping him help me."

She might've still been stuck with Fredrick or she might've been dead if Ric hadn't been a good person. Ric accepted her thanks with grace, though she was sure she saw a little pink in his cheeks; she smiled at the situation and shook her head. She wasn't used to making men blush. It hadn't happened since Damon had been human, since she'd been sent back in time.

"So . . . what's a Slayer?"

"I help keep the forces of darkness at bay."

"And you're dating a vampire." Ric seemed amused. "That's ironic."

"I know it's probably hard to understand, but Damon's . . . Well, it's complicated, but Damon has his own brand of nice. That's the best way to put it." Damon was good with _her_ at least, no matter how he was with anyone else.

* * *

"Underage drinkin', huh? I don't know, that's pretty illegal." John Gilbert sat down beside Rebecca and looked at her glass. "They don't ask for ID here?"

"It's a party. I don't think anyone cares."

Rebecca did not like John. He sort of creeped her out; he always had. Then suddenly John was on one side of her and Chase was on the other.

"Good evening, John," Chase said.

"Chase." John nodded at Chase.

They were awfully chummy with each other, Rebecca noticed. But John and Chase fit into the same category of people, so . . . they probably felt a strong bond.

"I saw you two dancing earlier. Are you planning on getting back together."

Rebecca took a deep breath to calm herself. John knew Chase from when she had been with him. John had come around a lot when Elena's and Jeremy's parents had been alive.

"I am going to excuse myself." She went to stand up, but Chase grabbed her hand. He was beginning to form an annoying habit of that.

"We need to talk."

"No, we really don't."

"In here or out there. It makes no difference to me," Chase said. "Though I might let something slip if we're in here and who knows who might be listening in."

Rebecca clenched her jaw. She _hated_ Chase and that scared her because she had never hated anyone before. Not even Katherine, the evil-bitch-monster-of-death. And Rebecca wasn't stupid; she wasn't going anywhere with neither Chase nor John. She didn't trust them.

"I'll talk to you, Chase. You speak softly while we dance. I want to know what the hell you're up to. It's obvious you two are working together, but I want to know what your endgame is."

Rebecca let herself be led to the dance floor by someone she really didn't want to be dancing with.

"So . . ." she asked impatiently.

"What do you wanna know?"

"How is it that you came to be working for John?"

"With," Chase corrected. "He sought me out when he arrived in Mystic Falls. I don't know how he knew I was here, but I signed up when he told me his plan. He wants to get rid of all the tomb vampires. The ones you helped set loose."

Chase spun her around and, when he caught her, he pulled so her back was to his front. She felt that he was enjoying this way too much; the proof was poking against her backside.

Rebecca suddenly wanted to be anywhere but with him. She wanted to be with Damon, but Damon was outside and she needed to find out what Chase was really up to.

"It doesn't look like your boyfriend's too concerned about me," Chase said in her ear. "I wouldn't leave you with me if I were him."

"You're not a threat," Rebecca seethed. "Not in the way you want to be, anyway."

"Hm. Aren't you scared that he'll turn on you one day? He is a vampire. It's in our nature."

"Don't you mean it's in _your_ nature? Damon's exceptionally loyal, Chase. Something you don't know anything about."

"Uh-huh. If he's so loyal and you're not scared of him -" Chase's hand slipped under the skirt of her dress and his fingers climbed up her thigh. She was too shocked to do anything at first "- then why do you carry a stake with you everywhere you go? Were you really expecting to find anyone other than Damon and Stefan here tonight?"

"It was a precaution. And _you_ showed up so I'd say I have perfect foresight. Now get your hand off of me."

Rebecca saw John go out the same way Damon had earlier and she wondered how long John would stay alive. There was no doubt in her mind about what John was going to do and what would happen to him when he tried.

Chase still had his hand over the stake on her leg. She wished he'd just go ahead and take it and stop touching her.

"I will break your fingers if you don't get your hand off me right now."

"And you know I think you're bluffing," Chase said.

"And I don't think she is," a voice said from behind Chase, and Rebecca recognized it as Stefan's. She'd never been so happy to hear that particular Salvatore. "Let her go."

Rebecca hoped they weren't causing a scene. Stefan was having a very bad week, so Rebecca didn't know if he'd be able to keep himself from hurting Chase. Not that she was opposed to Chase getting hurt; in fact she was perfectly okay with it, but it needed to not be in public.

Chase let her go without a fuss and she went back to the bar with Stefan. She thanked him on the way and then she realized she wanted another drink. She hadn't known how tightly wound her body had been until she began to relax as she sipped her drink. She shook with tension and, embarrassingly, her eyes began to sting with tears. Chase still scared her even after all this time and she hated him for it and hated herself for being afraid. She hadn't been scared of a single person in a long time.

"Are you okay?" Stefan asked.

Rebecca bit her bottom lip as it began to tremble.

"No. You know I've never hated anyone before, but I hate _him_. If we hadn't been in a crowd I might've actually killed him."

"Do you want me to go get Damon?" Stefan asked generously.

"No. I can't just . . . I can't fall back on him every time something happens. I need to be a big girl and deal with it myself."

When her third drink came Rebecca was relaxed and happy again. Sort of. She was tipsy but she felt okay again. The alcohol was flowing through her system so she was okay. Stefan stayed by her side since Elena was off with Matt somewhere.

* * *

"Damon, right?"

"John."

"We didn't get a chance to meet at the council meeting."

"Yeah, it's a pleasure. Are you enjoying the kickoff?"

"Oh, yeah, I've forgotten how much fun these small-town celebrations can be," John said.

"Yeah. When's the last time you were here?"

"Oh, it hasn't been that long. My brother's funeral. How long have _you_ been in town?"

"Oh, not long at all."

John and Damon smiled politely at each other. Damon was only talking to John so he could get a feel for the guy.

"So, what do you think, Damon? You know this vampire problem is real, right? It's a potential bloodbath."

"I wouldn't overreact, John."

"Oh, I think it's like 1864 all over again. Vampires running amuck. I guess we're just gonna have to hunt them down, throw 'em in a church and burn them to ash."

"That is the story, huh?" Damon said and took a sip of his drink.

"Part of the story, yeah."

"Oh, there's, uh . . . more."

"There's a lot more." John smiled. "You see, it seems there was a tomb under the church where the vampires were hidden away waiting for someone to come along and set them free."

Damon didn't say anything; he was silently wondering where this guy got his information. Journals? Probably.

"But then you already knew that, didn't you? Being that you and your girlfriend are the ones who did it."

John looked smug all of a sudden. Did he not know who he was messing with? Damon could kill him in an instant.

"And you're telling me this why?" Damon asked dangerously.

"I just thought I would get the introductions out of the way."

"You know I could rip your throat out without even blinking," Damon said bluntly.

"Yeah."

"But you probably ingest vervain, so . . ."

"Why don't you take a bite, find out."

"It's not worth my time."

Damon, however, couldn't just let this guy - whoever he thought he was - get away with knowing all that information. John was a threat and he'd brought Rebecca up. That was not a good strategy for anyone who wanted to survive in Mystic Falls, so Damon quickly and expertly snapped John's neck. John fell over the balcony and landed with a loud thud on the ground below.

* * *

Rebecca was hiding away with Jeremy in one of the many rooms of the Lockwood mansion. She was hiding because Chase had been following her around ever since . . . well, since she'd stopped dancing with him.

Neither Jeremy no Rebecca were speaking. They were just enjoying the silence.

"Jer?" Elena said from the doorway. "I - I heard about your conversation with Sheriff Forbes."

"No one is trying to figure out what happened to Vicki. They're all willing to believe that she OD'd."

Rebecca didn't say it but the reason people could easily believe that Vicki had OD'd was because she'd been a known drug abuser. It wasn't much of a stretch to think she'd taken too much of something and died because of it.

Elena stepped inside the room and sat down on a nearby chair. "The coroner's office confirmed it. If that's what they say happened. . "

"Is that what you believe?" Jeremy asked.

"What do _you_ think happened?" Elena dodged the question.

"I think somebody killed her and buried her body. And I don't think we should write it off just because it's easy."

"They're just doing what they can to move on," Elena said.

"The truth is the only thing that's going to help people move on."

"Jer, just let it go, okay?" Elena said impatiently. "Whatever it was, she's gone now."

Rebecca, who had been only half-interested in the conversation, noticed Jeremy's brow furrow.

"Whatever it was? So you don't think it was an overdose?" Elena didn't answer. "Is there somethin' you're not tellin' me? If there was something else you would tell me, right?"

"Of course I would."

Rebecca found herself rolling her eyes and wanting to call Elena out on her blatant dishonesty. She wanted to say _liar, liar, pants on fire!_ Well, maybe not that last part, but that was what Elena was. A liar.

They all were. Stefan, Damon, herself. It wasn't safe for any of them to be honest. And Rebecca couldn't stay there to be part of the lies so she left the room only to run almost directly into Chase.

"God! Really? Why are you following me? Leave me alone. I can't get any clearer than that."

"I'd like another dance with you. The last one was fun."

"For you. Which is all you care about. Yourself."

Chase wasn't like Damon or Stefan. Both Salvatore brothers had been good men who had been turned into vampires. Both brothers still had that good in them despite the monsters they were supposed to be. But Chase . . . Chase didn't seem to have any redeeming qualities. She had looked and had found nothing.

Suddenly Rebecca found herself pressed against the wall with a hand over her mouth. Chase was holding her there, and she couldn't fight or scream. She may have felt better but she didn't have her strength back yet.

_Damn it!_ she mentally cursed.

"Okay." One of Chase's hands, the one not on her mouth, was holding hers above her head, and it was making her panic. She was at his mercy. "You wanna know why I'm following you?"

Chase carefully removed his hand from her mouth. She didn't scream . . . yet. He placed a strand of her hair behind her ear in a gesture of mock tenderness. Then his hand slid down her neck toward her breasts but stopped at her vervain-filled Salvatore necklace.

"How cute. He got you a collar." Chase shook his head. "I don't want you with Damon anymore. That's why I've been following you around."

Rebecca's heart clenched tightly in her chest. She'd known Chase's nice guy act hadn't been real.

"That's not how it works, Chase. You don't get to tell me what to do. Not anymore."

"Why? Because you love Damon? Or because he loves you? You listen to him now? Where is he, by the way? Why isn't he here right now, protecting you?"

"Because I know how to protect myself," Rebecca said firmly.

Unknown to Chase, however, was that Rebecca was feeling really afraid. That meant Damon would know she was in trouble, he would come for her.

And he _did_ come for her.

* * *

What Damon saw at first was a man touching Rebecca against her will. Her hands were above her head and held against the wall in a grip that seemed painful. The man's other hand had snaked its way under the bottom of her dress and Rebecca was struggling against him. Damon saw red. What the other man was touching, the part of her body the man was fondling, wasn't his. It belonged to Damon - Rebecca had given it to him freely.

Damon didn't stop to think before snapping the guy's neck. That was two tonight. He guessed that meant the world hated him right now. He noticed that the guy who had basically been molesting Rebecca was Chase, and then he heard a sob escape from his girlfriend's lips.

"Becca . . ."

Rebecca was shivering, shaking all over, and Damon had to catch her as her knees gave out. Damon knew what this was about. Chase had tried to force himself on her before and tonight he'd tried again.

"I'm okay," she said between sobs. "I'm fine." She grabbed onto Damon's suit jacket. "I'm fine."

"Uh-huh." The fact that she was claiming to be fine proved that she wasn't. He could tell she was really shaken up due to the fact that her legs didn't seem to want to hold her up.

"I hate him, Damon. He knew I was weak or he wouldn't have tried that." Damon looked down at her when she looked up at him. "I think it's time to get rid of him, Damon. He threatened you and he tried to hurt me. But we can't kill him here."

Damon hid Chase in one of the rooms while Rebecca got her bearings. They both knew Chase would heal and wake up soon and they couldn't risk anyone seeing that.

* * *

"Damon, I wanna go home," Rebecca said softly. "I don't want to be here when Chase wakes up."

Rebecca squeezed her thighs together tightly and winced. Chase hadn't just been fondling her. He'd pressed and prodded and intruded with his fingers. He'd forced at least three digits inside her and she hadn't _wanted_ it. Her body hadn't wanted it.

"What's wrong?"

"I hurt," she admitted. "His fingers aren't the gentlest things to ever touch me."

Damon let a growl loose from deep within his chest and he grabbed her hands in his. He realized they were freezing, that she was cold, and wondered if it had to do with the recent trauma.

"Becca, I am _so_ sorry. I didn't think he would try anything in a public place. I never should've left you alone."

"It's not your fault. I let him in a little so I could find out what he was up to. He's working with John Gilbert. Supposedly, they want to get rid of all the tomb vampires."

"Oh, well then . . . they're not so much a _they_ anymore. Uncle John Gilbert just took a dive off the balcony.

All Rebecca did was nod. She had figured that John would end up dead if he confronted Damon and she didn't really feel sorry for it. She had never really liked John and he was plotting something anyway. Aside from kicking him out of town, killing him had been the only option. So . . . she processed and moved on. Not that she felt much right now, anyway, aside from the disgust she'd felt when Chase had . . . violated her with his fingers.

"Damon, we need to get rid of him soon. I'm -" Rebecca felt hot tears spill down her cheeks. She also felt Damon wipe them away.

"You're . . ."

"He scares me. I'm afraid of what he'd do if he gets me alone again. He wants me back, Damon. That's why he's here. It has nothing to do with Sarah. She's just a - a pawn in his game." She took a deep breath and exhaled shakily. "I know it's wrong to want someone dead, but I don't care. I really don't. He can't keep doing this, and I can't keep living in fear just because he's around."

Damon tensed beside her and Rebecca became aware of a warm trickle going down her leg. Before she could reach down to see what exactly had happened she felt Damon's fingers trailing up the inside of her thigh. God, his fingers were so different than Chase's had been. Both were calloused and big and undoubtedly male, but Damon's hands were soft, too, because he didn't treat her with anything but tenderness.

"You're not just sore," Damon muttered. "You're hurt."

God, Chase must've torn something when he'd . . . She realized then that she did feel a little twinge whenever she moved. Her body had obviously rejected what Chase had been doing - she hadn't gotten any pleasure from it at all. Chase should've known not to do that when she was dry. He could've damaged her more than he had.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to let him do that."

Damon's head shot up at the sound of Rebecca's voice. She was blaming herself, much like she probably had when she'd been with Chase romantically. Damon didn't like it. Rebecca wasn't this person.

"Hey!" he snapped. "This isn't your fault. You didn't _let_ him do anything. You don't have your strength back; there's nothing you could've done."

He noticed Rebecca was shivering again so he gave her the jacket from his suit. It swallowed her whole, but she seemed to relax a bit after she had it. Maybe, because of what had happened, she'd felt exposed and now she didn't.

"We need to find a place for us, so you can heal. So I can heal you."

She nodded and they began walking. Before they could find a room that they knew would be secure they found Stefan. He was standing off by himself, still drinking.

Damon said, "You wanna hear the bad news or the really bad news?"

"Actually, I don't want_ any_ news, Damon," Stefan replied.

"A'right, well, let me rephrase. Do you wanna hear how the council's back in vampire mode, _or_ how I just killed Uncle John Gilbert?"

"What?" Stefan asked.

"Great party, by the way, huh?"

"Damon . . ." Rebecca couldn't bring herself to care about what had happened to John. She was not in the caring mood. Granted, killing humans was bad and mostly not necessary, but . . . with John it had been. Besides she'd accepted that part of Damon - the homicidal part - a long time ago. She knew about the things he did and she was still with him; she wasn't going to bitch about it. But . . .

"Please tell me you had a reason," she said. "It wasn't just a joy kill."

"Well . . ." Damon smirked. "I _did_ enjoy it, but I also had a reason."

A few minutes later, after Rebecca and Damon had gone to the restroom so Damon could heal her, the mayor began talking about Founder's Day and the importance of community and friendship and all that. _That_ wasn't important, What was important was that in the middle of Mayor Lockwood's speech . . . John Gilbert walked in. He was alive and well.

Rebecca smacked Damon on the arm to get his attention.

"What?"

"I thought you said he was dead."

Damon saw John then too. "You've gotta be kidding me. I snapped his neck and pushed him off the balcony. There's no way he can be alive."

"Are you sure he's human?"

"He smells human." Damon grabbed her hand. "Can you wait for a few more minutes before we leave?"

"Yeah. I'd very much like to know how he came back to life myself. Maybe someone slipped him some vampire blood or something."

Suddenly Ric was there beside Damon and Rebecca. Damon pointed something out that Rebecca hadn't noticed. Ric and John had matching rings. That was odd because Ric claimed not to know John from Adam.

"Where the hell did you get that ring?" Damon asked, pointing at the silver piece of jewelry on Ric's hand.

"Isobel. My wife."

Damon chuckled. "Who gave birth to Elena. Under the medical care of the esteemed Dr. Grayson Gilbert. John's _brother_."

"So John knew Isobel and he brought her to Elena's dad?" Rebecca assumed.

"I think John knows a _lot_ of things," Damon said. "And I think that ring brought him back to life. It would probably work on you, too, since you have one." That last was directed at Ric.

"Ooh, where can I get one?" Rebecca asked. A small smile tugged at both Damon's and Ric's lips.

"Well, Isobel did say it would protect me from things that go bump in the night."

That meant the ring protected Ric from supernatural things. If he died by supernatural means . . . he would come back to life. And assuming Isobel had gotten the ring from John, where had John gotten them? Family heirloom, perhaps?

"I think John and I need to have a little talk," Damon said. But he didn't want Rebecca anywhere near John, not when John had so blatantly stated that she was partly to blame for the current state of affairs. And not when John was working with the bastard that had just tried to force himself onto her. "Go home with Elena. I'll pick you up later. And whatever you do, _don't_ let yourself be alone."

Rebecca knew Damon wouldn't be directly telling her what to do if he wasn't concerned about something, so she agreed almost immediately. She kissed him on the cheek and went in search of her brunette friend.

Instead of finding Elena, though, Rebecca found Jeremy. Or he found her; he wanted to talk.

"What is it, Jer?"

"What happened to Vicki?"

_Oh, any question but that. Please?_ she thought.

"Becca, please. I know you know. The sheriff is saying drug overdose and Elena won't tell me the truth. You saw her, she was hiding something. So please . . ."

So Jeremy _had_ noticed that Elena had been lying.

"Not in public," Rebecca said. "But I will tell you, I promise."

"When?"

"I don't know. Tonight?"

"Yeah. Yeah, okay. Uh . . ." Jeremy looked her up and down and smiled softly. "I'm almost scared to ask, but . . . why're you wearing Damon's jacket? It's longer than your dress."

"Mm . . . I feel better with it on," Rebecca admitted. "Something happened with Chase, and - "

"Are you hurt?"

Rebecca shook her head. She wasn't hurt anymore. She was still shaken up, however. She hoped Chase would be taken care of soon so she could stop being scared of him.

"You know I was just about to head out," Rebecca said. "Why don't you come with me so we can talk? I just have to go find Damon real quick. If I just disappear he'll go nuts. Do you wanna go to my house or yours?"

"Uh, yours. If you'll drive me home later."

"Sure, yeah."

* * *

Rebecca talked to her dad first and then found Damon. She told them both what her plan was. Her dad had been okay with it and had even given her his car keys, saying he'd catch a ride with Jenna at the end of the party and she could pick up Jeremy while dropping him off - two birds, one stone. Damon, however, had been suspicious.

"What?" she asked.

"What're you planning to tell him? I know he's been asking questions."

"I'm gonna tell him about Vicki. He deserves to know. If it were me, you'd wanna know. Besides, Jeremy would never tell anybody. He just wants the truth, that's all."

"And you are blatantly honest, so he went to the right place." Damon sighed. "How much does he already know?"

"He knows Anna's a vampire. He knows what happened to me. He knows I'm a Slayer. He figured most of it out on his own. He saw Anna's face change and confronted her about it. The rest sort of just fell into place."

"Just be careful. Don't say anything you can't take back."

Rebecca nodded and quickly kissed Damon on the lips. "Okay. Um . . . when you talk to John can you find out what he wants from me? I mean, what he _really_ wants?"

Damon agreed and then watched as she walked away. He then turned to Ric and they kept watch over John so they wouldn't miss him leaving. Rebecca had brought up a very interesting and valid point. What did John want with her?

Damon had to keep an eye on Chase, too, so he could track the bastard back to wherever he was staying and get rid of him. Chase was now mingling and acting like nothing had happened. Damon had painful plans for the ending of one Chase Carson.

While Damon and Ric were waiting for John to leave Tyler and Matt got into a fight because Tyler had been caught making out with Matt's mother. Alaric had broken up the fight; that was how Damon found out it had happened.

_Teenagers and their drama, Jeez._

Finally John decided to leave, so Damon and Ric followed him and cornered him outside.

"Going somewhere?" Damon asked.

"I never like to be the last one to leave a party. It's too desperate." John looked at Damon. "You gonna kill me again? Or are you going to let Mr. Saltzman do your dirty work?"

"Okay," Ric said. "You obviously know who I am."

"I do. Alaric Saltzman, the high school history teacher with a secret."

"You sure know a lot for someone who just got to town," Damon said.

"More than you can imagine, Damon." John walked past them. "My knowledge of this town goes beyond anything you or the council knows. So if you were planning on some clever high-speed-snatch-ring-vamp-kill-move know that, if i die, everything I know goes to the council. Including a fascinating little tale of the original Salvatore brothers and their present day return to Mystic Falls."

It would almost be worth it to kill this guy and remove his ring. Being outed would definitely almost be worth it. The only bad thing would be that he'd have to leave, as would Stefan. Then would come the question of whether Rebecca and Elena would come with them.

"How'd you get that ring?" Ric asked.

"I inherited one," John said. "My brother Gray, the other. _This_ -" he gestured to the ring on his finger "- is his. I wouldn't have given mine to Isobel had I known she was going to hand it over to another guy."

"So you _did_ know her," Damon said.

"Who do you think sent her your way when she wanted to become a vampire?"

"You sent her?"

"Guilty."

That meant that John or someone John knew had been keeping tabs on Damon for a few years. Whoever it had been had known where to find him and had told John, who had told Isobel.

"Why? Did you think someone else sent her? Maybe Katherine Pierce?"

"How do you know about Katherine?"

"How do I know anything, Damon?"

"What do you _want?"_

"So many questions . . . I think your girlfriend already knows what I want. You people made a mess with the tomb and I'm here to clean it up. I'd very much like her help since she _is_ the Slayer. Things would go a lot smoother if I had her on my team - super strength and all that."

"Ah. The problem with that is she _hates_ you. She didn't even bat an eyelash when I told her you were dead."

"Hm. Regardless of her feelings towards me . . . I would think she would want to help get rid of the people who tortured her for the better part of a day, wouldn't you? She'll be thrilled to get some revenge."

"You don't know her very well." Rebecca wasn't much on revenge; she wanted to live as simple a life as possible.

"It was nice meeting you, Ric. I've heard so much about you."

Damon clenched his fists to keep himself from grabbing John and shaking the life out of him. He had no choice but to watch John just walk away. Damon still wasn't sure about Uncle John Gilbert. _If_ he was telling the truth, then they wouldn't have much of a problem with him _and_ they'd get rid of the other vampires. But nothing every worked out like that. So John probably had something else planned.

* * *

After Rebecca got home, she took a quick shower while Jeremy made himself comfortable in her room. Chelsea was already asleep, so . . . they had to be quiet. Once she was done getting clean she got out, got dressed into her pajamas, and gave Jeremy a summary of how Vicki had died. Vicki had been turned, not on purpose, and she had tried to help Vicki, but the girl couldn't be helped. The reason she'd been killed was because she'd become a threat to everyone. It was hard not to tell Jeremy about Damon taking away his memories or Elena making the decision to ask Damon to do that. It was even harder keeping her loyalties to everyone. She couldn't tell Jeremy that Damon's blood had turned Vicki and that Stefan had staked her.

Jeremy changed the subject by talking about Anna. He was still seeing her without Elena knowing about it. Rebecca understood that; Elena would try to stop them, control freak that she was.

Rebecca had only been home thirty minutes before she got a text from Stefan. He was outside and wanted to talk to her alone. She texted him back, asking him to wait until Jeremy was gone.

She hoped Damon would be okay with that, her talking to Stefan. Yes, Damon hadn't wanted her to be alone but . . . Stefan would protect her. As a human, as an almost-friend, and as Damon's girlfriend, Stefan would keep her safe.

Jeremy stayed until Jenna picked him up and dropped Rebecca's dad off. After Robert went to bed, Rebecca made her way outside. She quietly shut the door so as not to disturb anyone and then stepped down off the porch.

"Stefan?" She noticed Stefan standing off to the side and in the shadows. Even from her place near the porch Rebecca could tell Stefan did not look well. Drunk and unwell. Uh-oh . . . what did he want?

"Stefan?" she said when she was closer to him. "What is it?"

"I need your help."

* * *

Okay, so I know this is long, but I really had no idea where to stop with this one.


	49. Chapter 44

Chapter Forty-Four

Stefan needed Rebecca's help? She'd known, of course, that he'd been having a hard time, but she'd thought he'd been handling it. He was supposed to have been handling it.

"Please!" Stefan said desperately. "I can't go to Elena and I can't tell Damon."

Rebecca didn't think that was true. Damon didn't live to torment Stefan anymore; he lived because he was with _her_ - everything he did was for her. Damon would help if Stefan let him. Granted, Damon would do it his own way, but he'd help nonetheless.

"What happened? Is everything okay?"

"No." Stefan nodded his head toward the road. "Come. We'll walk and I'll talk on the way. I, uh, I need to be moving."

Stefan was getting restless. Rebecca felt a small rush of trepidation at walking with him alone. Stefan wasn't stable right now. . . . she'd have to be careful.

"Matt and Tyler had a fight, and Matt's mom got caught in the crossfire. I tried so hard to keep it together tonight. And it was working, it was working, but . . . but then Matt's mom, she got hurt, and she was bleeding, and I had her blood on my hands. And there was a guy in the parking lot. I - I think I broke his hand. He made me so _angry_ -" Stefan almost growled the word "- and I wanted to feed on him so bad. It took everything inside of me not to do it."

"Oh, Stefan. I don't know what to say. I mean, of course you wanted to feed on him. You're a vampire. One who's not used to human blood. You're not used to the feelings that come with the blood lust."

"Oh, God, Becca. My head is pounding. I feel like my - my skin is on - is on fire! I have this hunger inside of me that I've never - I've never felt before in my entire life. And I know only one way to make it stop." Stefan suddenly looked worried. "Please don't tell Elena. I don't want her to see me like this. I don't want her to know this side of me exists. You're the only one who can help me now. I'm afraid of what I can do to - to everyone."

Rebecca stopped walking and realized they'd only made it to the end of the yard, where she'd parked her dad's car. She looked around sheepishly.

"She already knows, Stefan. I told her the night you almost -" Suddenly she was pushed against her dad's car and, because she'd forgotten who she was dealing with for just a second, she was shocked.

"You told her?"

"She needed to know, Stefan." Rebecca could tell he was scared of what Elena would do. "You weren't exactly forthcoming with the information, so . . ."

Rebecca reached behind her and gripped a stake she'd placed at the top of her pajama bottoms - Chase hadn't been lying; she did keep a stake on her at all times; if not on her person than definitely close by. When she went to use it on him he caught her wrist and squeezed until it was too painful for her to hold onto the sharp wood. Stefan was working on instinct alone now and she was only half a Slayer at the moment. This was not going to end well. Within three seconds, Stefan had her hands pinned over her head and shoved against the hood of the car. He had her angled so that her back was pressed tightly against the hood, too, and he was leaning over her almost to the point of being on top of her.

"Stop moving!" he whispered in her ear and she was so repulsed she shivered.

Oh, God, this had already happened once tonight, with, Chase. Why did Stefan have to do this too? Did she wear a sign on her back that said, "Come harass me" on it? Though, to be fair, Stefan seemed to be warning her that moving might end badly for her. It would excite his predator side if she fought.

"Stefan, you don't have to -"

"Yes, I do. This is who I am. The animal blood hides it, but this _is_ who I am."

Rebecca was terrified when she felt a stiffness on her thigh. Blood and sex usually went hand-in-hand when one was vampire, so that he was aroused from the thought of her blood didn't surprise her. What surprised her was when he began rubbing against her.

_Oh, God, scarred for life!_

She understood he was in animal instinct mode, so whatever he _wanted_ he was going to try to get. Whatever felt good to him was what he would continue doing, but why did he have to do this to her? Because she was the Slayer? Because she was Damon's girlfriend? Or just because she'd done something he hadn't liked?

"Stefan!" she hissed. "Remember Elena! Please. And Damon!"

She began struggling, but that just made him hold her tighter. He placed a hand over her mouth and jerked her head to the side. Then the sharp pain came and she let out a muffled scream. She would've moved had she been able, but she couldn't. Her body was pressed against the car and she was bleeding faster than Stefan was drinking.

He'd hit her artery; he'd torn into it.

* * *

Damon was not in a good mood. He still didn't know what John was really up to. And Damon hadn't been able to track Chase down. Yes, Damon had found the hotel Chase had supposedly been staying and had even found a room with Chase's name as the current resident, but none of Chase's things had been there. Damon hoped that meant Chase was gone for good. The realist in him said otherwise, but . . . he could dream.

And now . . . now something was seriously wrong. Something inside him was telling him that Rebecca was in trouble. Serious trouble. He'd even almost had an accident because of the feelings. He'd been driving toward Rebecca's house and he had all of a sudden been hit with that empty feeling he got when Rebecca was in fatal trouble. That feeling had almost caused him to swerve into a parked car. That was how bad it was. Something was really wrong.

Damon almost freaked out - okay, he did freak out - but he remembered that he could track Rebecca the way he couldn't track anyone else. Their bond was different for him - made stronger because he was a vampire. So where Rebecca couldn't always tell where he was, he _could_ tell where _she_ was. He had a sort of homing beacon for her when he used it right.

The first thing that popped into his mind was Chase. What if Chase had come to find Rebecca and finish the job he'd started earlier? But . . . no. Rebecca was at home and Chase hadn't been invited in. Rebecca should've been safe from that particular threat.

Damon hightailed it to Rebecca's house and found Rebecca outside, pushed on top of the hood of her dad's car. The life was being sucked out of her by . . . by his brother.

"Stefan!" Damon growled. He almost couldn't believe what was happening. Stefan was _killing_ Rebecca.

Damon was no longer in his car; he was faster on foot. Damon was going to kick Stefan's ass, but then Stefan pulled away from Rebecca, looking horrified. He choked a few times and then passed out.

"Hm . . ."

Damon didn't have time to worry about Stefan now. Rebecca had had vervain in her system and now Stefan had it in his. Stefan would be out for a while; Damon knew that from experience. But Rebecca . . . Damon could hear her heart slowing down to a dangerous level.

Damon hadn't really meant it when he'd told Stefan he wanted him to give in. Okay, maybe he had - a little - but he hadn't meant for him to give in by attacking Rebecca. Stefan hadn't needed to _attack_ anyone. That was what blood bags were for.

It was pretty late, which was good because it meant that nobody was around to see all this. Damon couldn't have cared less that Stefan had hit the ground - Stefan had done this; it was his fault - but Damon caught Rebecca before her head could hit the ground.

Damon didn't really think about it. He bit into his wrist, opened Rebecca's mouth, and poured the blood down her throat. He knew she had his blood in her system already, but he wasn't taking chances with her healing because of that. Rebecca couldn't die; she couldn't leave him alone. He knew if she died he would follow after as soon as he could. All he would need would be for the sun to come up.

Damon looked at Stefan and a silent, familiar rage began to fester.

_Why Rebecca?_ he wondered. Why did Stefan have to pick Rebecca? There were plenty of other girls Stefan could've attacked and yet he'd picked the one Damon loved. Had his brother done it on purpose? Stefan could be spiteful and childish. No one else saw that, but Damon did.

At that moment, for a second, Damon genuinely hated his brother, wanted to _kill_ his brother. Rebecca was dying there in his arms because Stefan couldn't control his urges. Suddenly Rebecca's heart stopped beating - Damon's heart stopped beating, too - and it felt like all the air had left his body. But it was worse than that. That connection that he'd always felt with her was gone. She wasn't alive any longer - he couldn't _feel_ her.

"Don't leave me," Damon whispered without even meaning to.

Rebecca _had_ to wake up - he hoped enough blood was in her system to make a difference. She had to be okay. If not . . . then he would die with her and then hopefully they would be together again. Because God - if there was a God - couldn't give him something this good and strong and then take it away. God couldn't take Rebecca away without a way to get her back; it wouldn't be fair.

For the first time in a very long time . . . Damon Salvatore prayed. He didn't barter. He didn't promise to be good because he knew that wasn't going to happen. He just asked God to _not_ take Rebecca away because he didn't have many things in his life that were good, that he believed in. But he believed in Rebecca and if God took her away Damon didn't think he'd even believe in anything again.

But for now . . . Damon needed to get Rebecca out of there, and as much as he didn't want to help Stefan right now, he couldn't leave him there either, not without the risk of exposing Stefan and himself. He picked Rebecca up and raced her to the car. He was debating whether or not to take Chelsea with them. Like it or not, Damon cared about the little girl, and Robert wouldn't take care of her, even with Tina there, but Rebecca would not appreciate a crying baby if - no, when - she woke up. On the other hand, though, she wouldn't like being away from Chelsea either. Rebecca had been like a mother to Chelsea for the first eight months; having Chelsea there may help ground Rebecca. Rebecca would freak out if Chelsea wasn't with her when she woke up. So . . . he got Chelsea from her crib and began to leave the room when she woke up. He stood still and held his breath,

"Please don't cry," he whispered desperately. "Please don't cry."

He grabbed her diaper bag and ran out to the car. He had a hell of a time getting her strapped into her car seat. Who the hell invented the thing? NASA? Not to mention when he leaned over her she grabbed his hair and refused to let go.

"Hey!" he said. "No, Chels."

Chelsea giggled a little until she saw Rebecca in the front seat. She went still like she knew that Rebecca wasn't alive anymore.

"Bec," Chelsea said, tears beginning to form in her baby eyes. "Bec 'kay?"

How did she know something was wrong? She was only a year old. She shouldn't be so . . . perceptive.

"Chels, she'll be okay. I promise."

Even though Damon didn't really want Rebecca and Chelsea in the same car as Stefan, he couldn't leave Stefan there - he put Stefan in the trunk. Rebecca still hadn't woken up, and the longer it took, the edgier Damon got. What if the blood didn't work? What if, because she was a Slayer, she couldn't be turned? Why hadn't he thought about that before?

No, it had to work. He'd prayed for it to work. _Ask and you shall receive, right? _Wasn't that how it went?

Damon headed straight for the boardinghouse. He was holding onto the steering wheel so tightly that he was surprised he hadn't broken it.

Chelsea was asleep when they reached the house. Damon put Stefan in the cellar first thing. Stefan would be out for a while and when he woke up he would be weak and disoriented. He would deal with Stefan later. He was more worried about Rebecca. He went back to the car to get her and Chelsea. Rebecca, he put in their room; Chelsea, he put in the room he'd made up for her when Rebecca had started bringing her sister with her when she visited. Then he went back to his room, to Rebecca.

For the first time, Damon noticed that her pretty white dress was ruined. He'd liked that dress, too. Or he'd liked the thought of taking her out of it, anyway. He hadn't imagined she'd be dead when he undressed her, though. It had never been one of his fantasies.

Damon went down to the kitchen, grabbed a bowl and filled it with water. He had an urgent need to clean her, remove the blood. He had the irrational idea that if he washed away the blood that it would make her better; he could wash away what had happened. He grabbed a rag on the way back up and then shut himself in his room.

He carefully unclasped the two rope-like pieces of cloth that held the dress up from the back of her neck and slowly brought it down to reveal her breasts. The usual milky skin that Damon loved had a bluish tint to it now. Damon had to force himself not to think about that. He didn't want to think about the blood that had dried there, either.

Damon swallowed back the emotion that wanted to spew forth because he didn't want to cry. If he cried . . . it would make all this more . . . real.

A light trickling sound filled the room when Damon dipped the rag into the bowl and lifted it out again. He rang it out and brought it to her breasts where he reverently began washing the blood away. And this . . . this wasn't right at all. He'd washed her before. She was supposed to sigh and moan and get pleasure from it. She wasn't supposed to just lay there, non-responsive. She was supposed to wake up.

Disheartened, Damon moved to her neck and proceeded to wash there, too. When the blood was gone he noticed that Rebecca no longer had a bite mark there. His blood had worked! Or it had healed her at least. That meant - or he hoped it meant - that the blood would turn her. All he had to do was wait.

* * *

Rebecca was drowning in a pool of black. She had the very odd sensation that she had actually drowned but that she'd somehow been brought back. The next thing she knew, her eyes were open and she was no longer drowning in blackness; she was swimming in twin oceans of blue.

Damon. She was with Damon. She didn't know why but she saw that he'd been worried - tense, too - but now he was letting out a breath. She remembered what had happened, suddenly, and she raised her hand to her neck. There was no wound. Damon had healed her; Damon had gotten there in time to save her.

Rebecca was going to _kill_ Stefan. She'd only been trying to help him and he'd attacked her, like a maniac.

"Where's Stefan?" she asked softly, her voice hiding her anger.

"Locked up. But you're gonna have to get in line if you wanna kick his ass. I call it first."

"Oh. We were . . . we were talking and he got angry," Rebecca said just to give Damon a clue about what had happened.

Rebecca realized she had on an over-sized button-up shirt.

"I, um . . . Your dress was ruined. I changed you."

"Oh."

Damon's eyes were concerned and a little vulnerable. "How're you feeling?"

"Better, since my neck isn't ripped open anymore." Though, to be honest . . . she felt a little achy, and her head was pounding. And her throat was burning like she needed something to drink in the worst way. That wasn't a good sign. But the biggest give-away that something was wrong was that Damon was being cautious, almost. Why? What was wrong? She was fine; everything was fine.

"Damon . . . did I die?" she asked softly, knowing he wouldn't lie to her about this. In general he didn't lie to her, period, unless it was for her own good.

"Yes," he whispered. "I didn't get there in time, I'm sorry."

Rebecca sighed and closed her eyes. This meant she had a choice. She could become a vampire or she could die for real. She'd always planned on turning for Damon so he wouldn't have to watch her die, but . . . she had only just turned eighteen. She hadn't wanted to turn until she'd at least been the same age Damon had been when he had turned.

Still . . . she didn't really have a choice. She'd promised Damon that she would turn for him. She would be with him forever.

"You still want me around forever?" she asked.

"God, yes!" Damon said, some of the tension leaving his body. "I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't woken up."

Rebecca took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Reassured that she at least wouldn't be alone, she nodded. "Well, then . . . I guess I need something to drink."

Damon couldn't tell what she was feeling; she wasn't sharing. But . . . as selfish as it was, he wasn't going to ask her if she was sure. He didn't want her changing her mind. But before he opened the door he turned back to her.

"Hey, promise me something."

"Yeah?"

"I know I don't have the right to ask you this, considering who I am, but . . . after you turn, your instinct is going to be not to feel, but I _need you to feel_. Okay?"

Damon needed her to love him. He needed her to be able to love, period. He loved that she could love blindly, passionately, and unconditionally. It was part of what made Rebecca who she was. Take that away and she wouldn't be herself.

"I don't want to not feel, so . . . I'll try my best to keep that promise. But it goes both ways, Damon," Rebecca said. "You can't go flipping the switch either."

Damon grimaced. She wasn't supposed to have turned that around on him.

"I'll give you a very reluctant 'I'll try' to that," Damon said.

He left to go down to the cellar to grab Rebecca a blood bag. He avoided looking at Stefan but he could hear that his brother was still unconscious. He could stay that way for all Damon cared. He grabbed two bags of blood; Rebecca would be ravenous when she first changed. She would need both.

On the way back upstairs he saw Sarah sticking her head out of her room. He couldn't stop to chat, not really, but he did tell her that everything was going to be okay.

When he returned to his room he saw Rebecca in pretty much the same state she'd been in when he'd left. The only thing that was different was that she looked more nervous. He wondered how she really felt about all this. She hadn't really said.

"Becca?" Damon squeezed the bags of blood in his hand, anxious to give them to her so she could change and be done with it. "I really can't tell what you're thinking right now."

What Rebecca was thinking was that her body felt really funky. She was breathing out of habit and yet . . . her body didn't need it. The oxygen wasn't necessary anymore. But when she didn't breathe, just as an experiment, she felt weird, empty. Without the oxygen her lungs felt flat and uncomfortable, but she didn't feel the pressure she'd usually felt that told her she needed to breathe.

Her body felt like it was on overdrive, like she should get up and do something, like maybe she could run forever. But on the other hand . . . she felt like she could be unnaturally still, too.

"Does it hurt too bad?" she asked. "When you change?"

Damon wasn't going to lie to her. "It hurts, but it's bearable. If you focus on drinking and not on the pain, it won't bother you as much."

Rebecca nodded. That was a comfort at least. She took one of the bags from Damon and took a deep breath. This wasn't what she wanted; it wasn't supposed to have happened this way, and Stefan was never supposed to have been the cause, not ever. But she couldn't just die. She wasn't ready for that either. Too many people needed her here. Damon, Chelsea, her friends . . . so turning was her only option.

"Did you want me to leave?" Damon asked. "Or . . ."

"Don't leave me," Rebecca said, unknowingly repeating Damon's earlier words.

Damon watched Rebecca look at the blood bag and could see her contemplating. She seemed to be wondering whether she could really be on a liquid diet for the rest of her life. She really had no idea how her opinion would change once she took her first sip.

Damon was going to have to find someone to spell Rebecca's necklace. She would not like being cooped up all day. She socialized too much to do that. Bonnie wasn't home yet and she probably wouldn't help anyway, judge-y thing that she was. Though she and Rebecca got along well enough, Bonnie was not fond of vampires in general. Once she found out Rebecca was one . . .

* * *

_Oh, God_!

Rebecca was gagging. She'd just taken her first sip of blood. She'd had blood in her mouth before, of course, but this was different. This was her food source now. And the thought of that made her want to be sick. Until she noticed the taste. The blood wasn't coppery or metallic like she'd expected it to be. It actually tasted a little sweet. Maybe that wasn't even the right word. It was more like . . . like . . .

The best way to describe it was that she had craved things when she'd been human and it had been the best thing she'd ever tasted when she'd finally gotten it. This was definitely like that. If blood tasted like this every time . . . maybe she wouldn't mind drinking blood for the rest of eternity after all. But then the pain came. There was a cutting in her gums where her canines were and she winced. God, they were growing and she could feel them. How was she supposed to focus on the blood when her gums were killing her. And her eyes felt weird. She felt the skin underneath her green orbs and realized her face had taken on the visage of the vampire she now was.

Damon saw Rebecca struggling with the pain of her new fangs and heard her take a few deep breaths in between gulps of blood. Her eyes were closed but he could still see the veins protruding underneath, blackish-blue. Her hand flew to her mouth and she groaned. He noticed the fist blood bag was gone. She'd forced all of it down fast to get it over with.

"My jaw hurts," Rebecca whispered. "How long does it take for that to go away?"

"Not long. A couple of weeks. It helps if you . . . bite something."

"So I need a chew toy? A teething ring?"

"You know, Chelsea actually has one of those, I can get it for you."

Rebecca's eyes widened. "She's here? She can't be around me while I'm new. I could hurt her."

"I'm not gonna let you hurt her," Damon said. "Does your head still hurt?"

"A little."

Damon opened the second blood bag and the liquid's scent filtered through her nose. She suddenly got really, really hungry again. When Damon handed her the bag she brought it to her mouth and began to suck. She didn't limit herself. She could learn control later. Right now she was hungry. Right now nothing mattered except for soothing that hunger.

After the second bag was gone and Rebecca's stomach was pleasantly full, she got tired quickly. It was like when Chelsea had been younger. Rebecca had fed and now she wanted to sleep. Or she _had_ wanted to, but she became distracted by a noise.

_Ba-boom, ba-boom, ba-boom . . ._

Damon's heartbeat. She could hear Damon's heartbeat. She'd always had the disadvantage of not being able to hear his heart, but not so now. And her heart had started beating again. It was slower than normal, but it was there regardless.

"I can hear your heartbeat," she said, awe filling her voice. "That's new."

She closed her eyes to just listen but was distracted by a stray thought. She'd always gotten lost in her thoughts; she wondered if that would happen even more now that she was a vampire.

"Does anyone else know yet? About me or Stefan?"

"No. I figured I'd wait for you. I didn't know if you'd want to be around people yet, and you know Elena's gonna wanna see you. Think you can . . . _not_ rip her jugular open?"

"I don't know. Think she won't piss me off?" her words were less severe because of the smile on her face. "It's up to her whether or not she comes over. If I feel any . . . urges . . . I'll just stay away from her."

Truth was . . . if anyone was going to piss Rebecca off, it would probably be Elena. They had been best friends once, but now Elena was almost always making her angry with her control freak ways. But she trusted Damon enough to know he wouldn't let her hurt Elena, if only for the reason that Rebecca would never forgive herself if she did. And it would imply Stefan would have to die, too, because once Stefan got free he would come after her nonstop if Elena were to die by Rebecca's hands.

* * *

While Rebecca went back to sleep Damon stayed with her. He kept an ear out for Chelsea, too. She was stirring, but she wasn't awake. He thought back to her asking if Rebecca was okay. How had Chelsea, a baby of one year old, known something was wrong? Yes, there had been blood, but a one-year-old should have been able to make the connection between blood and pain and death.

Damon was trying to forget Rebecca's lifeless body. He would remember it forever, so the effort was futile. For a second after finding her he hadn't known what to do. He hadn't wanted to move, or . . . his body had refused to move for a split second. Any longer and he might not have gotten there on time.

He was so sure his heart had stopped when he'd seen Stefan draining the life from her. He'd wanted to go numb but he hadn't let himself. And it had been agonizing; it had been like 1864 all over again, Stefan trying to take her away from him. This undid everything. He and Stefan had been becoming brothers again, but he couldn't just overlook this. He shouldn't have to.

Rebecca was a vampire now and she was going to be living with him for a while - maybe forever. He wondered if that meant Chelsea would be staying there, too. If she was, they would have to get some things.

He really didn't fancy going shopping - it really went against his tough guy image. But Chelsea would need food and a booster seat and diapers and things like that. It wasn't like Rebecca could go shopping now. Maybe he could get Elena to do it. Or Blondie. Caroline liked shopping and she would know better than he what to get.

* * *

Rebecca woke up with only a couple of hours of night left. She still felt really out of sorts and her tummy was rumbling again. She was already hungry and she had just fed before she'd gone to bed.

She woke up with Damon beside her. She realized then that she could wake up next to him for the rest of forever. It made her giddy but also scared. Rebecca knew the concept of forever and she'd contemplated it many times since she'd met Damon, yet . . . she'd never actually thought-thought about it. To be with Damon she'd given up her human life. Now she was going to be able to experience forever with him. It seemed a daunting task. The only good thing about it would be the love she and Damon shared.

Rebecca sighed and got up to take a shower. Damon had washed her well, but there was still blood in her hair. Her beautiful golden blond locks were matted.

Taking a shower was odd. Her body was more sensitive now so she had to get used to the hot water hitting her. And the noise . . . God. The sound of the water shooting forth from the shower head penetrated her ears and made her head hurt. How did Damon do it? The noise was annoying. No wonder vampires could snap so easily. The noise alone was enough to drive her crazy.

She hurried up with her hair so she could get out fast and stop the infuriating noise. When she stepped out onto the hard-wood floor she grabbed the closest towel and dried off. The towel felt good, at least. It was soft and fluffy and it felt wonderful against her skin.

Now she knew why Damon favored bubble baths over showers. Speaking of . . . that sounded very soothing. Since her hair was done, she decided to run herself a bath so she could soak. She covered her ears and felt her body tense as the water spewed from the faucet. She wondered when she would get used to the noise. She remembered, and understood now, why the noise had bothered Sarah when she'd first been turned. The noise was annoying and overwhelming.

Rebecca was suddenly glad the boardinghouse was so secluded she might hear animals, but no vehicles or other noises of civilization. She did, however, sense Damon moving around in the room and, since the tub was actually in a room that was part of the main room, she looked behind her. Damon was leaving the room, but he gestured that he'd be right back. By the time the water had filled the tub Damon _was_ back. He shut the water off and she relaxed slightly.

"Where's Chelsea?" Rebecca hadn't asked about Chelsea before, but now she wanted to know. "I can tell she's here. I don't know how, but . . ."

Rebecca felt Damon's hand on her stomach and she sighed. She wondered what his fingers would feel like now if he would begin to caress her. If everything was magnified . . .

She let out an involuntary shiver.

"Chelsea's in the next room over. You'll hear her when she wakes up."

"Oh."

She grabbed his hand and slowly brought it up to her towel-covered breasts. Damon's breath caught but he didn't stop. He tugged the towel away from her body and then his hands made contact with her skin and she hissed a little. His hands were warmer than her body. He tweaked her nipple with his thumb and she looked over her shoulder to see him smirking at her.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing. I was wondering when you were going to want me to show you the good parts of being a vampire."

She heard as Damon's shirt hit the floor and as he began working on his pants. He glanced appreciatively at the tub filled with water and then situated himself so he could sit behind Rebecca and she could sit between his legs and lean against him.

"I'm gonna have to find a way to explain to my dad way I can't come home. And about Chelsea. And I need my necklace spelled. Bonnie, maybe. And we need to let Elena know what's going on. And Jeremy. I know Elena won't like it, but he's my friend. He needs to know, and I won't stop spending time with him just because -"

"Becca, stop." Damon knew her mind was going about a mile a minute now. "You don't have to figure everything out all at once. Don't worry about anybody else but yourself for a few days. You're always taking care of everyone else; you don't worry about yourself enough."

She smiled. "I've got you for that."

Rebecca focused on his heartbeat and found it drowned everything else out. Hearing that was okay. It soothed her. It wasn't too loud; it didn't penetrate her mind like thunder.

Damon began stroking her stomach and she relaxed even more. She leaned her head back and made contact with his shoulder. She grabbed his hand and guided him to her breasts. Needless to say, he got the hint.

Rebecca had always like sex - or . . . she liked sex with Damon, and foreplay was amazing. But now her emotions were on overdrive, and the mere thought of him touching her was making her want to lose control. When she guided his hand to her nether regions, because really, that was what she'd wanted all along, she felt Damon stiffen against her back.

"Shall we move to the bed?" she teased. "That was why you put Chelsea in the other room earlier, right?"

They stood up, kissed, forgot to dry off, and ended up on the bed.

"Chelsea is in the other room . . ." He kissed her again. "Because you were a mess earlier. She didn't need to see that. She, uh, knew you were hurt, somehow.

"Now the next few hours are gonna be about you. I know you didn't want this yet, and I remember how hard it was to adjust. So . . ." He made his way down her body and she anticipated what his glorious mouth was planning on doing. "I am going to show you the good parts of being a vampire."

"Please," she said, panting already. He hadn't even started yet. Within seconds, he had her trembling and making all sorts of fun noises. She dragged him back up her body before she could finish and she easily flipped them over. "I can't breathe. Give me a minute."

Damon noticed she _was_ having trouble breathing. Too many new sensations, he guessed. But she began kissing him anyway. It didn't last too long because she pulled away. Her face had changed and she was hiding in the crook of his shoulder. He took the chance to flip them back over and smiled when she let out a little gasp of shock.

"Hey!"

"Yeeeees?" he drew out.

Her face was back to normal and she shook her head, smiling. "Never mind. Carry on."

He grinned back. "God, I love you."

Before she could say it back, he had slipped inside her and she groaned as he slid all the way in in one solid move. She even cursed, which Damon thought was a little hot because she wasn't usually a potty mouth.

Then . . . "Oh, I love you too!"

Damon chuckled against her neck and began moving slowly. He knew she'd be able to feel every inch of him. She'd feel more than she ever had before. It would overwhelm her, but in a good way.

They'd been together enough times to know how to drive each other crazy. They knew where to touch, how to touch. Damon knew her body well enough to know how to move just by how tight she was around him or by her sounds.

Damon felt a sort of exhilaration flow through his body. Rebecca was a vampire now. He didn't have to hold back with everything he did. Not anymore. That didn't mean he was going to be unduly rough with her - no more than he usually was - but he could let himself go without the fear of hurting her. She was no longer a fragile human. She could no longer be easily broken. If she was as adept a vampire as she had been a Slayer, she would be a force to be reckoned with.

He was still going to take it easy on her tonight because everything was new for her. He let his hands travel to his heart's content while Rebecca grabbed him to plant a kiss firmly on his lips. He maneuvered them so he could slip a hand between her womanly folds. He knew her nerve endings were probably on fire but he continued to play anyway.

Rebecca had never felt this good. Her body felt like it was having a continuous orgasm, only she hadn't come yet. When she actually came, she was going to die, again. A person couldn't' feel this good without some kind of drawback.

"I love you," she said again.

Damon chuckled and said, "It doesn't count when you're out of you mind with pleasure. Of course you love someone's who's making you feel good."

Rebecca deliberately squeezed her womanly walls around him and he cursed.

"Just say you love me too, Damon."

That statement was just so Rebecca that Damon had to comply; he usually did.

Damon wrapped his arms around her and brought them up so he was on his knees, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He let her set the pace now, since her feelings were the ones that mattered to him.

Rebecca took notice of that, too. That he was making sure the pleasure was drawn out for her. Everything he was doing was for her. Of course, Rebecca wasn't a selfish lover so she was making this good for him too, but she appreciated the gesture nonetheless.

She realized she could have this forever. This love, Damon's love. His loyalty and his devotion, his undying commitment to her. She literally had an eternal love. She could tell he wanted that, too, every time he looked at her with those amazingly get-lost-in-them-forever blue eyes of his.

Rebecca felt her face change and she was right by his neck. Yes, Damon was a vampire, but she was new and felt like biting someone.

"Damon?" She started nipping at his shoulder and knew what would happen, if he let her.

Damon, being a vampire himself, understood exactly what she was going through. She instinctively wanted to bite someone. Her emotions were at the surface, and emotions were not something vampires took kindly to. Damon had already marked her as his a while back; the bite mark would never fade. Now, even though Damon would heal, Rebecca wanted to mark him as well. It was predatory, claiming someone, but Damon wouldn't say no, not to her.

"I won't let you hurt me," Damon said, panting. He didn't think he'd feel it anyway, with the way they were grinding together. "Go ahead."

He was surprised when she didn't just go for it. She kissed and sucked at his neck first, preparing the spot and bringing the blood to the surface. He shouldn't have been surprised, though, because she'd been on the receiving end of a bite before - a good bite, not a bad one; though she'd had a fair share of those too. It was so like Rebecca to have paid attention to how it was done and it was kind of hot having her put it into practice. She even timed it right. She waited until she was coming around him to bite him. She would've known that the sensation of her body falling into oblivion would distract him from most of the discomfort that followed the sharp jolt of pain that her fangs would bring.

And it worked. Her body was so tight around him that he could barely move. He didn't hate it. He felt he could stay buried inside her forever if their bodies would allow it.

Rebecca was happy and proud beyond words at that moment. She was drinking from Damon and not hurting him too much. She already knew how to feel better and cleaner than Stefan did and she wasn't even a day old. Granted, Damon's blood wasn't fresh and he wasn't human, so she couldn't hurt him but so much but still . . . she was drinking slowly and she was coherent enough to be able to move with Damon so he could come with her. She was herself enough to be able to stop on her own without any prodding from Damon. She withdrew her fangs and watched as his wound healed and then she licked up the blood like a cat would milk.

She felt him nipping on her skin, too, and embarrassingly enough, it made her moan. She'd never minded Damon's bite during sex. In fact, she had come to expect it. Now that she knew what it felt like - the need to bite and even ravage - she appreciated the fact that his bite would've been considered loving and careful.

Damon collapsed forward on the bed, reclaiming his place on top of her. He kissed his way from her ear down her jawline. Butterfly, barely there kisses. Rebecca was trembling her legs quivering.

"I love you," he said.

Rebecca grinned, sated. "I thought you said it didn't count right now."

"We're not actually having sex right now. Of course it counts."

"It's only because you said it, right?"

"Absolutely," Damon said.

She laughed and Damon, still buried inside of her, felt a _zing_ and began to harden again instantly. Rebecca stopped laughing when the fact that he wanted her again became very clear. He began kissing her with all the tenderness he had to offer.

Rebecca hadn't thought she could ever love someone so much. It took her breath away, feeling all her love for him and knowing he felt the same way.

"Damon," she whispered. She didn't know why, but the fact that she could feel him hardening inside of her touched her in a way she'd never acknowledged before. She felt powerful, as a woman, because she was making him want her.

"Can you go again?" Damon asked. "Or do you need a break?"

Rebecca took that as a challenge even though she was fairly certain Damon hadn't meant it as one. No, she didn't need a break because it was so clear that he didn't.

She used the strength in her legs to turn them over so she was on top now.

"Does that answer your question?"

* * *

Rebecca and Damon explored each others bodies until the sun came up, and Damon had stayed true to his word. He'd made everything about her. He'd wanted to take her mind off of everything and he'd succeeded. Now Rebecca was there next to him seeming completely content.

"That was intense," she said, nuzzling against his chest. "Must do it again soon."

"Mm . . . we can do that _every day_."

She giggled and he felt her nod. "Definitely. I think that's an awesome idea."

Damon watched as she stretched. She was still naked, so he got a good show - it was a very nice view. She wiggled a little and made a noise of disgust. Her face scrunched up too and made lines appear above her nose. She clenched her legs together and _hmm_ed.

"I'm all gooey. We're gonna have to change the sheets because I think I'm leaking."

Damon grinned and held back a laugh. "Leaking? Well, that can sometimes happen. Bodily fluids and such . . ."

"Don't make fun," she said, pouting. "And it's your fault anyway."

Damon did not take offense because he was silently thanking whatever higher being was watching this moment that vampires could blush because Rebecca was definitely blushing. He was also trying not to laugh at her reaction to her problem.

"It's not funny," she said. "I'm not used to having that much . . . fun . . . in one night. So of course I'm gonna comment on how squishy my insides feel."

Damon _did_ laugh this time. He couldn't help it. First she was gooey and now she was squishy? And she was probably still leaking. When she stood up it would probably drip down her thighs; he couldn't wait to see her response to that.

He reaction was instantaneous. As soon as she stood up she said "Ew," and rushed to the bathroom. He heard water running and grinned as he pictured her thoroughly cleaning herself. She had never before made a big deal about any of this, but they had never spent that whole night making love before either. The most they'd done was three times in a night. She had been human then and could very well have passed out from exhaustion - now it wasn't so.

"How's it goin' in there?" he said in his regular voice. knowing she would hear him anyway.

"Fine," she half-yelled.

Damon smirked even though no one could see him.

"Are you gonna be all right if I have to go out? There's supposed to be a council meeting today."

"Yeah, I'll be okay."

"Uh-huh. Is that a real okay or an 'okay, but I'd really like for you to stay?"

"No, I'll be okay. Just hurry back."

"Kay. Good luck with the leaking thing."

A bar of soap was suddenly launched at his head and he ducked in time to keep from getting hit.

* * *

It didn't take long for Rebecca to realize she didn't like being cooped up during the day. She got bored and restless and she got hungry every couple of hours. Rebecca knew that it was because she was new that she kept thinking about blood. Without Damon there to distract her, she had nothing to keep her from feeding every time she wanted to. Not that Damon would care, but she'd already had two blood bags and Damon had only been gone for an hour. But Damon would understand how hungry she was and he would never judge her.

Then there was Chelsea. She was glad Chelsea was a relatively good child who didn't cry a lot. That meant that . . . maybe, once Rebecca got a handle on herself, she could once again take care of her sister without the fear of snapping. Not only for herself did Rebecca want to take care of Chelsea. Yes, Damon had compelled Robert and Tina to take care of Chelsea, but being taken care of wasn't the same as being cared about.

While Rebecca was at the boardinghouse, without Damon, she called Elena and left a message asking her to come over after school. She didn't tell Elena about becoming a vampire; all Rebecca said was that Stefan was locked up in the basement of the boardinghouse. That would definitely get Elena's attention.

Rebecca called Bonnie, too, but she got her voice mail like she had every other time she'd called the witch since she'd been gone. Rebecca didn't know why, but she was sure Bonnie was avoiding her calls. Whenever Elena called, she got voice mail too. They didn't even know how Bonnie was doing; they hadn't spoken to her for about two weeks.

In a desperate attempt to get rid of her boredom, Rebecca even broke out Damon's alcohol, but she couldn't drink a lot. One, it was too strong and it burned going down. Two, Stefan was downstairs. She was not getting drunk when her killer could get free.

After twelve, Rebecca had gotten a call from her dad; he sounded like he'd just woken up. He wanted to know why she hadn't left a note or a message the night before stating that she'd left. Rebecca couldn't tell him the truth, obviously, so . . . she just told him she was sorry and that she hadn't thought about it. She couldn't fault Damon for not thinking of it either because he'd been so worried about her that he hadn't been thinking of anything else.

"Well, I just called to tell you that Tina won't be staying with us much longer. She can't handle the stress; it's not good for her or the baby."

"Oh . . ." Rebecca felt kind of guilty for that. She had been the one to introduce the reality of vampires into Tina's life. It was her fault that Tina was stressed out about it.

"So . . . I need someone to watch Chelsea for a few days because I'm not gonna be here. I'm helping Tina get settled in a place near where her folks live."

"California? She's leaving the state?"

"It's what she wants. After you got kidnapped she said she couldn't wait around for it to happen again, so . . . she's going."

"Oh. I - I'm sorry. I thought . . . I don't know what I thought."

"Becca . . . I . . . I want to go with her. I'd like you and Chelsea to come with me. Get away from Mystic Falls."

"No," Rebecca said automatically. "My life is here. My friends, my -"

"Damon . . . is here," Robert said. "You want to stay with him."

"I'm _going_ to stay with him. I'm over eighteen; you have no legal right to stop me."

"Right. Well, we'll talk about it later, just . . . I guess just stay there and keep Chelsea with you until I get back."

That was it. He hung up. It was just as well because someone knocked on the door.

"Crap," she muttered. The not-being-able-to-go-out-in-the-sun thing was a bitch. "Uh, hold on!"

Sarah, who was still asleep, would've been no help even if she were awake. She couldn't go in the sun either. Rebecca positioned herself so the sun wouldn't hit her skin; basically, she hid behind the door. Rebecca was surprised that it was Anna who was at the door.

"May I come in?" the dark haired girl asked.

"Uh . . . sure." Rebecca quickly closed the door when Anna stepped over the threshold. "What's up?"

"I figured you'd be here," Anna admitted. "I'm here on behalf of my mother. Is . . . Damon here?"

Rebecca shook her head. "Council meeting or something."

"Hm. I wanted to know if you were okay since . . . I haven't seen you since the hospital."

"Right."

"I'm sorry about what the other vampires did to you and Stefan. Abducting you, torturing you. It wasn't supposed to go down like that."

Rebecca had decided to forgive Anna and her mother _while_ she'd been being tortured. She'd known they'd had nothing to do with it; they hadn't even been there while it had been happening.

"My mom is devastated. They tried to overthrow her."

Rebecca smiled at the girl. "I don't blame you, Anna. Or your mother. I never did."

Anna hadn't only come to see Rebecca; she'd also wanted to check on Sarah. While Anna went upstairs, Rebecca called Damon and left him a message about him needing to come home so they could talk. She didn't know how to deal with Robert wanting her to leave with him. She needed Damon's input.

* * *

Damon was lost. Metaphorically, anyway. Damon should've asked Elena or Blondie, or . . . someone to do this for him. But he hadn't, and he had to learn sometime, right? He had gone to the Wal-Mart just outside of town after the council meeting and was now stuck with getting baby stuff. Food and diapers . . .

"Jesus, who knew babies needed so much crap these days," he muttered.

He remembered the diapers that needed to be pinned together. These new astronaut-tested things were . . . odd. There were too many to choose from. And now that he thought about it, they made disturbing things go on in his head. Grown-ups floating around in space with diapers on. And why were they going to space anyway? Weren't things just fine the way they had been before? Scientists were always messing things up, meddling in things that were better left alone.

But that was neither here nor there. He was trying to decide what type of diapers to get Chelsea. He didn't want to call Rebecca and ask because how pathetic would he look admitting he couldn't perform this one simple task?

_No, I can do this_," Damon thought. _Rebecca does this all the time. _And if worse came to worst, he could always make his own diapers for Chelsea.

* * *

By the time Damon got home he was in a huff. He'd bought a car seat for Chelsea and had found out the thing was harder to figure out than a damn Sudoku puzzle.

Some of the irritation melted away when he saw Rebecca and Chelsea in the living room, the latter standing up and walking with the help of the former. Chelsea was grinning her baby smile and Damon smiled back.

"When did this happen?" he asked, meaning Chelsea being able to stand up.

"Just now. She was sitting down and all of a sudden she was dragging herself up my leg."

"Hm."

"Damon, we need to talk about Robert."

"Yeah, okay, what about him?"

"Tina's leaving; he's going to help her settle in. He wants to go with her and he wants me and Chelsea to go with him."

"Oh?" Unbidden, the insecurity of being alone for 145 years came back. "And?"

"And I don't know what to do. He's compelled to _care_ so now he wants to get me and Chelsea far away from here. I don't . . . I don't want to go. My life's here with you." She looked down at Chelsea. "We've become a family, Damon, and I don't want to give that up."

Rebecca wondered it that was how her dad felt. Tina, Robert, Chelsea, and herself had become a sort of family.

"Well . . ." Damon moved closer so he could grab Chelsea. "My life is with you guys. Mystic Falls just came with the package. If you wanted to go . . . I'd drop everything, leave here, and go with you."

Tears were glistening in Rebecca's eyes and Damon realized what the problem was.

"You don't want to leave, though, do you? I'm not the only thing keeping you here."

He really wasn't. She had her whole life here. Friends, memories. Everything that made her _her_ . . . every event that had shaped her had happened in Mystic Falls.

She wouldn't leave her home.

* * *

So . . . things are not all hunky dory here. There's stuff seething underneath the surface for both Damon and Rebecca. Anyway, let me know what you guys think.


	50. Chapter 45

Chapter Forty-Five

Elena came to the boardinghouse after school because Rebecca had left a message on her phone.

"You said Stefan was locked up. Why?" Elena asked.

Rebecca looked at Damon, who had promised to let her handle this. He was keeping his promise so far, but if they didn't hurry it up, he might not worry about what he'd said. He could be impatient sometimes.

"He's locked up because he attacked someone," Rebecca said calmly. Though to be honest, just the mention of Stefan's name brought a surge of rage to Rebecca's whole being. She hadn't been angry yet since she'd been turned, but she was getting angry now.

She was angry because Stefan had_ attacked_ her when she'd wanted to help him.

"Stefan attacked someone?" Elena sounded shocked and in disbelief, and Rebecca felt the intense need to roll her eyes.

"He's not perfect, Elena," she snapped.

Elena looked at Rebecca; she must've noticed that Rebecca's tone was a little off.

"Are you okay?"

"Well . . . define okay."

"You seem okay, as in you're up running around," Elena said softly.

"Yeah, well, so am I," Damon said, speaking for the first time since Elena had arrived.

Elena, who was holding Chelsea because the little girl had gravitated to the brunette, was quiet for a while, sorting things out in her head.

"Are you saying . . . that you're . . ."

"I died last night, Elena," Rebecca whispered. "Stefan killed me."

Again Elena was quiet and was looking at her with disbelief.

"Becca . . ." Elena spoke now. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"Well, it happened right after Jeremy left with Jenna."

Rebecca explained to Elena what had happened as best as she could, and she got angry again. Because . . . she had wanted to be friends with Stefan, but now she couldn't. He had killed her and she couldn't be friends with someone who had done that. And . . . she had the urge to go down in the cellar and tear Stefan a new one. It had hurt, damn it!

That was when Rebecca felt her face change, and it was from anger and betrayal and -

_Oh, God_! Chelsea was right there! Rebecca didn't want to frighten her sister, so she made sure Chelsea couldn't see her face.

"Breathe," she heard Damon whisper; it was only loud enough for her to hear, so she listened.

"Do you need me to leave?" Elena asked, compassion lacing her voice. "I can go downstairs if -"

"No, I'm just . . . upset, and I'm new so I'm feeling everything, only . . . more."

That was the only way she knew to explain it. She'd felt anger as a human, anger that made her want to throw things or hit someone, maybe even make her want to bash someone's head in, but as a vampire - as an angry vampire - she sort of had this mindless need to destroy something, and it didn't matter what.

"Was this what you wanted?" Elena asked. "To become a vampire?"

Rebecca sighed. There was really only one way to put the answer to that question. "Eventually. It wasn't our plan for me to become one so soon, but yes, I told Damon a while back that if it came down to it, I was okay with it. And nobody else knows about me yet, so . . ."

"I won't say a word," Elena promised. She bit her lip before speaking again. "Can I see him? Is he awake, and is it safe?"

"Well, don't go in," Rebecca said. "And don't let him out."

"Right. Says you." There wasn't any malice in Elena's voice, though.

Rebecca knew Elena was talking about her letting Damon out when Stefan had locked him up. That may have been one of the stupider things Rebecca had done, but she wouldn't have changed it for anything, even though it _had_ resulted in her getting bitten.

Elena stood up and handed Chelsea to Rebecca. Rebecca didn't go down to the cellar with her brunette friend because she didn't want to risk hurting Elena by losing control; she knew she would if she saw Stefan.

"Well, at least she's still alive," Damon said. "How're you feeling?"

"Hungry," Rebecca admitted sheepishly. "Angry."

"Stefan," Damon mumbled. "Not too happy with him myself."

Damon went down to the cellar to get Rebecca some blood. When he got back upstairs he put it in a glass so as not to let Chelsea see her drinking from a blood bag. Damon concentrated and tried to place what everyone was doing. Sarah was upstairs; she was still upset about not being able to go outside during the day, but at least she had company by way of Rebecca and Chelsea. And she knew Rebecca a little, so . . .

Then there was Elena, who was trying to talk to Stefan, who wasn't responding. He was probably being melodramatic and feeling guilty about hurting Rebecca, which he should. Stefan had stolen from the blood bank - the local one. Damon hadn't noticed the night before because he'd been preoccupied with making sure Rebecca had been okay, but they had a whole freezer filled with blood bags down in another part of the cellar.

He'd found out why at the Council meeting earlier - Liz had told him that the records had been 'altered', but that the night manager hadn't had any memory of changing them, which meant that Stefan had compelled the manager to forget it had ever happened. He'd been being careful, at least.

John Gilbert had been the one to alert the sheriff. Liz had been informed of other hospital blood banks having the same problem; Damon didn't know if Stefan was responsible for _every_ theft, but . . .

Since Liz knew about the blood being stolen she was upping security at the hospitals and dosing the guards with vervain. That meant Damon was going to have to travel farther when he went to get blood for them. The last thing they needed was to have security guards going missing.

* * *

"Did you know Bonnie came home today?" Elena asked as she sat beside Rebecca on the couch. "I tried talking to her in class, but . . ."

"Was she avoiding you?"

"A little. I asked her how she was doing, and her family. She said it's been hard, but they're dealing. She, uh . . . didn't want to come home because of the vampires being out of the tomb. And then -" Elena's voice took on a pissed off sort of tone "- I found out that Bonnie and Caroline have been talking every day, and Bonnie never even answered when I called."

Rebecca didn't say anything, but she did admit to herself that it stung; she'd thought she and Bonnie were closer than that. Bonnie hadn't answered for her, either.

Well, whether Bonnie wanted to talk to her or not, Rebecca needed her necklace spelled. Bonnie was the only witch around now, so she had to help. The Grams thing aside . . . Rebecca had been a good friend. Bonnie owed her.

"I need to talk to her. Do you think she'd answer if I called?"

"Maybe now that she's home," Elena admitted. "Though she didn't seem to want to talk to me."

"Well, I can get her to talk," Damon said.

"Damon, no," Elena was talking like she thought Damon was actually going to listen all of a sudden. "She's mad at all the tombed vampires and you may not be from the tomb, but you _are _a vampire."

"I'm not scared of her," Damon said firmly. "Besides, I just want to have a civilized conversation with her."

"Civilized? In relation to you? What does that even mean?"

"It means I mean her no harm."

"She might not see it that way."

"Well, that's her problem."

* * *

Later that day Elena tried talking to Stefan again. It wasn't working this time, either. Rebecca was sitting upstairs, listening in while also talking to Sarah and taking care of Chelsea. Damon was there too but he was keeping his peace as long as Rebecca was careful with Chelsea.

"Why is Stefan locked up? Aren't vampires supposed to eat people?" Sarah asked; she was nursing a glass of blood herself.

"He doesn't know when enough is enough," Rebecca said, making it clear she had no intention of discussing it further.

Rebecca was trying to focus on what was going on downstairs. She wanted to know what Stefan had to say for himself this time. He always had some excuse that would ingratiate himself to Elena no matter what he did, even if he'd killed one of her friends.

Rebecca knew she let Damon get away with a _lot_ but she wouldn't have forgiven him if he'd killed one of her friends - or that's what she told herself.

_What happened, Stefan?_ Elena's voice was as clear as it would've been had Rebecca been down there with her. _You told me you were fine_.

Rebecca rolled her eyes. Of course he had said that; he'd said so himself that he didn't want Elena to know about this part of him.

Rebecca was momentarily distracted when she thought again about Bonnie - and that led to other people she wanted to talk to. Jeremy, mostly, because she could be upfront with him. He wouldn't judge her; Bonnie probably would, sad to say.

Bonnie would no longer see Rebecca Stone, friend. She would see Rebecca Stone, vampire and predator. A threat, an enemy. Rebecca had lost one friend already and she'd only been a vampire for a day.

Oh, God, her friends! They were all going to die! They were going to grow old and die. Well . . . being that they lived in Mystic Falls, they might not grow old at all, but they would die.

Technically, she'd thought this through already. She'd come to terms with it before, when she'd talked to Damon about him changing her, but that had been _then_. It had been a hypothetical conversation. Damon was supposed to have been the one to change her, later in life. It wasn't supposed to have been Stefan; it was _never_ supposed to have been Stefan.

This - Rebecca being turned - was supposed to have been something that was Damon's alone. It was supposed to have happened when they'd both been ready for it. It shouldn't have happened like this.

"Are you okay?" Sarah's voice broke through Rebecca's thoughts.

Rebecca wasn't really okay. Because . . . she was dead - not in-the-ground dead, but she had died. She'd been counting on living another five years at least.

"I'm gonna be fine, Sarah," Rebecca said.

Rebecca still had Elena and Damon and Chelsea. Caroline, too, even though she was still in the dark about everything. Elena could be a judgmental little thing, but she could be a good friend, too. Damon . . . Well, he was Damon and he was hers forever - that was the one thing that had kept her from thinking about everything that was now springing to mind. Chelsea -

Rebecca's heart stopped. What were they going to do about Chelsea? Rebecca, having assumed she would be turned later, had never stopped to think about what would happen to Chelsea if it happened sooner. Assuming the townspeople weren't as stupid as they seemed, would notice that certain citizens weren't aging, which meant they would have to leave. No matter where they went they could only stay for a few years, and that was only if nobody ever suspected anything before that time was up.

That was no life for a kid and definitely not for a baby. She might have to give Chelsea up. _Damon_ might have to give Chelsea up, and Damon wasn't good at giving up things he cared about.

It would make him act very distant with her if she even mentioned it, but she would have to mention it if she wanted to do what was best for Chelsea. And breaking her away from them slowly would be best, which meant that Chelsea not living with them but still seeing them was best. And hopefully . . . hopefully Chelsea would be old enough to understand that her big sister had to leave when the time came.

But . . . Who could she leave Chelsea with other than Robert or Tina, neither of whom Rebecca really wanted to be responsible for Chelsea. Robert because he could barely take care of his own self, let alone a baby he didn't really care for, Tina because _Tina_ was going to have a baby of her own and Rebecca didn't want Chelsea to become second best just because she wasn't really Tina's baby.

Well . . . Rebecca didn't want to give Chelsea away and Damon wouldn't want to give her away . . . so . . . why not have a trial run? Just to see if they could do it. See if they could play house with Damon, Chelsea and herself - Stefan and Elena too, by default. There was no doubt they could keep Chelsea _safe_, but there was no way Chelsea would grow up normal if they kept her.

The only thing Rebecca could think after reviewing everything she'd just thought about was . . . _So what_? She loved Chelsea and Damon loved Chelsea, so . . . they could try to make it work.

Possibly.

* * *

By the time night fell Rebecca was just about to go stir crazy. She'd been cooped up all day because of the sun, so when the sun went down she went outside. Damon was still inside so she didn't worry about Elena's or Chelsea's safety. They were both safe with him.

"Damon," she said, knowing he'd hear her no matter what part of the house he was in. "I'm going to see Bonnie. I won't be long, I promise."

"Be safe," she heard in return.

Then she took off.

It was amazing being able to move with vampire speed. She knew that to human eyes she would be a blur - that's how fast she was going. She also knew that if she weren't a vampire she would think everything she was passing was a blur, but it wasn't to her. She was so . . . exhilarated; it was liberating. The speed she could get used to. And even though it was dark and she was in a wooded area, she could see as clear as day. The only thing that would have made it better was if she'd been running alongside Damon. She'd have to suggest that sometime when the drama died down, if it ever did.

Pretty soon she was at Bonnie's even though she'd had to slow down when she reached town. She could tell that Bonnie wasn't alone by the two heartbeats that were coming from inside the house. Caroline was there too, if the car parked in the driveway was anything to go by.

Well . . . there went the talking-to-Bonnie plan. It didn't change her mind, though, about visiting. Maybe if Bonnie saw she still acted the same then Bonnie wouldn't have any qualms about helping her. So Rebecca knocked on the door.

When Bonnie opened the door all the witch said was, "Hey."

"Hey," Rebecca replied back, though she was sure Bonnie owed her more than that. "Elena told me you were back."

"Yeah. Just got back today. Uh . . . what're you doin' here?"

"Well, you never answered when I called, so I thought I'd try the direct approach." Rebecca chose to ignore the slight hint of anger she was feeling.

To Bonnie's credit, she did look guilty. "I'm sorry, I just needed a break. With Grams' death and everything . . ."

"Right. I get that."

"I just had so much to deal with after Grams' funeral and, honestly, after Elena told me the tomb spell failed I didn't really wanna come back. I understand why Elena told me; she wanted me to know about it before I came back, but I just . . . shouldn't know."

Bonnie just shouldn't know? Rebecca didn't understand that - the whole willful ignorance thing. But that had been Bonnie's M.O. since she'd learned about vampires, so . . .

All of a sudden Rebecca realized she wasn't really ready for Bonnie to know about her being a vampire. Bonnie wasn't happy knowing about the _other_ vampires in town, so she wasn't going to add anymore drama into the witch's life. She could wait a few days.

"Bonnie!" Caroline's voice called from upstairs. "Help needed!"

"Help?" Rebecca asked. "For what?"

"The Founder's Court. Miss Mystic Falls. Elena and Caroline are both on it."

Rebecca was surprised, not because of Elena and Caroline both being on the list, but because Elena hadn't mentioned it. They had signed up back before Elena's parents had died - Elena's mom had even been Miss Mystic Falls in her day - so it surprised her that Elena hadn't been excited about it. Though it probably had something to do with Stefan being locked up. For Elena to even be in the running she would need an escort and hers was not available.

"Did you want to help? We're talking about the dress Care is going to wear."

"Um . . not tonight. I should go."

"You just got here."

"I know. I was, um . . . I came here to talk to you about something, but I just can't . . . right now."

This awkward tension between them made Rebecca think of how hard it had been to talk to her friends back when she'd first become a Slayer. She was going to have to go through the same thing again.

* * *

When Rebecca got home - the boardinghouse was her home now - she went straight down to the cellar. She wanted to talk to Stefan. Luckily, Elena had gone home already, though Rebecca was sure she was coming back because of Stefan. When Rebecca reached the locked door she had a strange sense of deja vu. She'd once come down here to rescue Damon. This time, however, she wasn't rescuing anybody, and she didn't stop outside the door; she unlocked it and went on in.

Stefan was laying on a cot that Damon had provided; it was more than Stefan had provided for Damon when he'd been locked up. Stefan didn't move or speak. He looked zoned out.

"I know you know I'm here, Stefan." He still didn't do anything; he didn't respond in any way. "You ruin everything, Stefan. Everything you touch . . ."

_That_ got his attention. He looked at her then, _really_ looked, so she knew the vervain was out of his system. He could focus when he had to.

"You came to me for help," Rebecca said, moving closer. "And then you killed me. Do you even know that? Are you yourself enough to grasp that?"

"Becca . . ."

"Don't call me that." She took a deep breath to calm down and spoke again. "I'm a vampire now, obviously. And I'm still me. Can you tell?"

"Yes, and you're angry. I understand that."

"Well, I'm glad you understand that it's me who's here. It's me who -"

She didn't finish her sentence. She ran to him, grabbed him up, and bit as hard as she could right where he'd bitten her. All her pent up frustration was put into that bite and she _knew_ it probably hurt, but at that moment she didn't care. She really didn't.

Stefan didn't scream, but she could feel him fight against her; it didn't matter because she was stronger than him.

The bite lasted maybe ten seconds, but not because Rebecca let go. Damon had come in and pried her away from Stefan.

* * *

Damon shoved Rebecca against the wall hard enough to jar her into reality, back into herself. She fought for a few seconds until she realized it was him that was holding her in place.

"Damon?"

"It's okay," he said softly, soothingly. "You're okay."

Stefan, however, was on the floor with blood dripping from the wounds on his neck. Rebecca had really gotten him. Stefan would heal and he'd be find. Rebecca had just gotten her first taste of how it felt to lose control. He thought she would've done so sooner, but she'd lasted a full day. Damon wasn't aware that the reason she'd lost control was because everything had hit her at once and not being about to confide in Bonnie for fear of being judged had been the last straw.

Rebecca had chosen to blame Stefan, which Damon was okay with. It was something he understood completely since he'd spent the majority of his time blaming Stefan for his life, too. Suddenly, Damon was leading a bloody Rebecca out of the cellar. Damon knew that Rebecca wasn't happy with being a vampire, not right now. She had hidden it well, had avoided thinking about it until now, but Damon had been listening and _knew_ that Rebecca hadn't wanted to turn by Stefan's hand. Sure, it had been _his_ blood that had changed her, but it had been Stefan's doing.

"I'm not sorry," Rebecca whispered.

Damon noticed that Rebecca was trembling and he figured if she cleaned herself up she would feel better. He didn't want Chelsea seeing her sister that way even if the little girl wouldn't know what it meant - he didn't _think_, but Chelsea was a perceptive little thing. He didn't want Sarah to see Rebecca like this either because both he and Rebecca had gotten on her about controlling herself. It would be . . . bad . . . for Sarah to think Rebecca was hypocritical, especially about this.

When they reached their room - it really was their room; Rebecca had her own drawers and even some of her girly things that had previously been in her other room at Robert's house. Damon thought it completely messed up the flow of the room, but he would share because it was her - he sat her on the bed and went to get something to clean her with. It was the second time in the same amount of days that he'd had to wash blood off of her.

"I wanted you to be the one to do it," she said softly.

He stopped suddenly and looked at her. Rebecca was focused on the tan sheet and was beginning to pull at a thread that was loose.

"Stefan takes everything away from you, Damon, and it's not fair."

"Wait, you're mad because he took this away from me?" Damon asked. He didn't know what to feel about that because he'd thought she was mad for her, not him.

"No, he took this away from us. I was supposed to say it was okay and then you were supposed to be the one to do it." Up until then Rebecca had been speaking quietly, but when she next opened her mouth her words came out in a yell. "I was supposed to be okay with it!"

Then the tears came - or more tears than were already there - and Rebecca covered her mouth and looked at Damon with wide eyes. She looked like she thought she'd said something wrong.

"Becca . . ." He gathered her in his arms and grabbed the hand that was over her mouth. He didn't want her barricading the words in; she needed to let them out. "Tell me."

"I was supposed to be okay with it when it happened because I was supposed to be older," she admitted softly.

Then she was crying - _sobbing _- harder than he'd ever seen her cry before. God, she was hurting so much he could almost feel it himself. He hurt with her.

"I can't go outside during the day. Bonnie will hate me when she finds out I'm a vampire now, and she's the only one I know who can help me with that; Caroline and Matt are completely in the dark, so I can't be around them yet because that could end horribly wrong. And it's all _wrong_ because my friends were supposed to know about me and they weren't supposed to care because they're my friends! Bonnie's not supposed to care, Damon!"

Rebecca's voice had changed throughout her whole rant - if that was the right word; Damon wasn't sure. But Damon had been listening very attentively. Contrary to popular belief, he was a very good listener. And if he cared enough - which, in this instance was the case - he was a patient listener.

Rebecca could hide things when she wanted to even though she preferred to be completely honest with him because of their relationship. But Damon had learned that her rants could explain away certain moods she'd been having; this one explained why she'd attacked Stefan - other than the obvious reason. Damon didn't really know what to say, though by nature he wanted to make light of the situation. He couldn't do that with her because this was something serious that was bothering her and he didn't know how to make it better. He knew it was her new _magnified emotions_ thing making her act this way and that it would level out once she got used to it. She would learn how to control what she felt or how much she felt, but it would take time. Sadly, he couldn't teach her that because she didn't deal with things the same way he did. Mostly, he avoided or distracted himself in some way; Rebecca actually liked solving her problems.

Back to Rebecca's voice. She'd sounded sad at first, when she'd talked about Bonnie hating her now - Damon wondered what had happened to make her think that. She'd sounded at least semi-rational when she'd spoken of Blondie and her boyfriend; then the last part about Bonnie not supposing to care had been yelled, almost desperately, and Damon had decided to forget about cleaning her off now. Because what she needed now more than anything else was comfort. What she needed was someone who didn't care that she'd turned. She needed him right now more than she ever had. She needed every part of her human life that would still have her.

Elena, Chelsea, and himself.

He spent the majority of the next hour coaxing Rebecca into a fitful sleep. Rebecca had said something about Chelsea and then not being able to keep her, but he'd chosen to ignore it. This was not the time to go into that. They could talk about it later when Rebecca was more herself.

* * *

Elena came back about an hour later - it was around eight o'clock now and Damon was sure Rebecca would be out for a few hours, at least, so he left her there on the bed - he'd cleaned her off after she'd calmed down.

Elena didn't look like she was in the highest of spirits herself. Her friend was a vampire, her boyfriend was locked up in a makeshift prison for being a nutcase, and her other friend wasn't talking to her; there wasn't much to be happy about, Damon guessed.

But apparently Damon was deciding to care now so he asked just to make sure there was nothing else wrong. Something was always happening to Elena.

"My mom was really into this Founder's Day stuff and Miss Mystic Falls is coming up," Elena said, her tone soft and wistful; she was remembering her mother, Damon assumed. "I signed up so long ago I'd almost forgotten about it. They posted the list today and I'm on it, but I have no one to go with. And I kind of wanted to do this for her."

"Oh." Damon didn't know why she was telling him this. "You could have any number of guys at school. Ask one of them," Damon said, as if the answer was obvious; to him it was.

"Damon!" Elena reproved. "This was really important to my mother. She believed in community, family, honor, loyalty. It was the legacy she left for me."

"And I care why?" he asked, not seeing what he had to do with anything she'd just said.

"You care because I want you to take me. As . . . friends, obviously." Though Elena had said the word 'friends' with a certain hint of uncertainty.

"No," he said automatically. "Sorry, spoken for."

"Damon! Rebecca can't go, and you're already invited. It would be a huge favor. I'd ask Matt if he weren't already with Caroline. Besides, Rebecca won't care. For some reason that I personally don't get, she trusts you. And even if she didn't, I'm her friend. I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize that."

Damon saw the pleading look in Elena's chocolate brown eyes and hated himself for giving in so easily.

"Fine, but I need a favor in return."

"Okay," she was hesitant, he noticed.

"While you're here don't mention the vampire thing to Rebecca unless she talks about it first. She's . . . a little touchy, okay? But spend time with her. Help her know it's okay."

"Why? What'd she say?"

"Nothing worth repeating," he said. "Meaning she said a lot, but I don't want you to know because I don't know if she wants you to know. She'll tell you when she's ready."

That being said he urged her to tell him what exactly being her escort would entail. Basically, all he had to do was show up and dance with her. He could do that; that was easy.

* * *

Okay, so this was pretty much a filler chapter. It sets things in motion for the next few chapters.

Love you guys! Please let me know what you think!


	51. Chapter 46

Chapter Forty-Six

"Howdy, partner."

That was John. Damon have been avoiding him since he'd agreed to work with him the day before. Now John was at his door, just walking in like he owned the place.

"You haven't returned any of my calls," John said casually.

"Most people would take that as a hint," Damon responded, his eyes following John, as he closed the door.

"Where do we start looking for vampires?" John was now in the parlor, looking around.

"Why the act, John? I mean, you obviously don't care about catching vampires. You're here talking to me."

"Actually, I care very much," John said, looking at Damon now.

Damon heard movement upstairs but didn't show it outwardly. What followed was a few mumbled words from Rebecca to Sarah, telling the younger girl to stay upstairs. Someone semi-dangerous was downstairs.

Then Rebecca was coming downstairs with Chelsea on her hip.

"Hello, John," she said.

John didn't look surprised to see her there. "Rebecca."

"You were saying something?" Rebecca asked innocently. She was being smart. Neither she nor Damon wanted John to know she'd been turned. Until they found out if he was really only there for the tombed vampires then he was definitely someone they would consider a threat. That meant she couldn't act like she'd heard anything that had been said.

"What does Isobel say about your little prejudice?" Damon asked. "Seeing as she _is_ a vampire?"

"Isobel and I share a . . . mutual interest," John said very carefully. "The original Jonathan Gilbert had an invention that was stolen by a vampire. That vampire was then captured and burned in Fell's Church, or so Jonathan though, and the invention was lost forever."

"Hm." Damon made no other comment than that.

"But then . . . the vampires weren't killed, were they?" John was walking on thin ice here. "They were trapped."

"You already played the tomb-vampires card, John. Get on with it," Rebecca said. "What is it that you want?"

"I already told you what I wanted from _you_, Ms. Stone. Now, thanks to you and your friends . . ." He made it very clear what his opinion of her _friends_ was. "The vampires are free and the invention I just mentioned is retrievable."

"Well, what is it?" Damon asked.

"The thing that matters is I want it back. And you're going to help me if you want your secret safe," John said nonchalantly.

"Why bring me into it, John? I mean, I don't even know what you're talking about, much less who has it," Damon said, appealing to common sense for once.

"Oh, come on, Damon. You were around back then. You know who these people are, what they look like." John paused to let Damon reassess the situation, and then . . . "He was friendly with a woman who turned out to be a vampire. Her name was Pearl. Does that ring a bell?"

Rebecca saw the change come over Damon almost instantly. John was digging for information and Damon was through with whatever game John was playing.

"I'm not playing anymore," Damon said. "Get out." Damon began walking to the door to show the unwanted guest out. "Get out."

"I beg your pardon. I'll tell the entire council what you are," John said.

It turned out Damon responded to threats just as well as Rebeca, only Damon was better at getting his point across.

"Go for it. I'll kill every last one of them, and then I'll sever your hand, pull your ring off and I'll kill you too. Do you understand that?" His eyes had become electric and wild, which meant he meant what he was saying and that John needed to be careful.

As it was John didn't seem to know what to say to Damon's threat, which, to Rebecca, meant that John didn't have as much leverage as he'd previously thought.

"I believe you've outgrown your welcome here, John," Rebecca said, seeing as to how Damon was still at the door waiting for the man to leave.

After John was gone Damon calmed down relatively fast; it proved John was only an annoyance right now. John's threat of telling the council had been cancelled out by Damon's almost-promise to kill them if John said anything. Rebecca didn't know if John was stupid enough to try Damon's patience further by carrying out his threat.

* * *

Damon had to meet Elena at the high school to _rehearse_ some dance that he could've taught her himself in about two minutes.

He hadn't wanted to leave Rebecca alone so soon after John had left, but he and Elena had a deal - a deal was a deal. Hence meeting Elena in the high school cafeteria with the other participants and their escorts.

Mrs. Lockwood was the one teaching the dance and they had been through it twice already.

"Honor your partner," Carol instructed.

Damon bowed; Elena curtsied.

Damon remembered vividly that when he'd met Rebecca she'd curtsied too - mockingly - and he'd found it amusing.

"Let's focus," Carol said. "Right hand around. Flirt with your eyes."

Both Damon and Elena did as they were told. Damon noticed Elena was grinning. He saw nothing funny about this situation, so as they circled each other, only near-touching, he asked what she was thinking about.

"This is ridiculous," Elena said, almost giggling, as they began circling again, only this time it was "left had around."

"You're only saying that because you don't know how to do it," Damon said, now circling with "both hands around."

"Sorry only one of us was around when the dance was invented," Elena snarked without any really malice in her voice. Elena's eyes softened and so did her tone. "Thank you for doing this . . . whatever the reason may have been for doing it."

Damon wasn't used to being thanked by Elena so he shrugged it off like it was no big deal. She'd probably go back to hating him - or at the very least, only tolerating him - after this. She'd find something else to complain about.

_The Fell cousins don't have a shot_, Caroline's voice suddenly reached Damon's ears; she was right outside in the hallway - she was late. _Amber Bradley is only on the court so the pageant doesn't look like it's founding families only, which it is. So that leaves Elena, and she totally has the sympathy vote since her parents died. How can I compete with that_?

_Very nice, very sensitive_. And that was Bonnie - or as Damon now called her, Judge-y.

_Oh, I'm sorry_, Caroline said. _This must sound completely unimportant in light of everything_.

_It's okay. I get it. You wanna win_.

_My grandmother was Miss Mystic and both of my aunts. My mom is the only one who didn't get the gene, and I want this. And I actually deserve this._

And then they were in the cafeteria and Elena stopped dancing.

"Bonnie, hey."

Bonnie and Caroline did a double-take when they saw that Elena wasn't with Stefan - and that _Damon_ was the one she was with.

"I begged Bonnie to fill in for Matt," Caroline said. "He had to work today."

Caroline's obvious attempt to lure Elena into explaining herself worked like a charm.

"Damon's here because Stefan's sick. We're not sure how long it'll take him to recover, so . . ." Elena looked at Bonnie. "Do you have a minute?"

"We only have 30 minutes for rehearsal."

"Well, if you had bothered to show up on time . . ." Damon said, and he got a glare from the witch.

"It'll only take a minute," Elena said. "Please."

Bonnie relented and Elena followed her out, leaving Caroline alone with Damon. Neither said much, though Damon did mention that Rebecca still wasn't feeling like herself yet, and the late birthday party would have to wait.

_Bonnie, you have to tell me what's wrong._

Damon felt no guilt in eavesdropping; he had to occupy himself somehow. Plus, he wanted to know what the witch's problem was, too.

_It's not worth talking about._

_What d'you mean, not worth it? You've barely said 10 words to me, and you won't even look at Damon. Is that what it is? Is it Damon?_

Nothing was said for about fifteen seconds, and in those seconds Damon tried to think of something he had done to piss the witch off, but he hadn't done anything to her. In this he was innocent, so whatever the problem was . . . it couldn't have been him.

_Listen, Elena, I can't just pretend like everything is okay,_ Bonnie said. _Everything my Grams did was to protect us from those vampires in the tomb. And now they're out, which means she died for nothing._

_I'm sorry, Bonnie. What can I do to make it better?_

_That's just it_, Bonnie said. _There's nothing you can do. I blame him, Elena. Him and Stefan, and I'm not gonna put you in a position where you have to choose sides. I'm just having a hard time with it. Okay?_

_And why do you blame Rebecca?_ Elena asked. _You blame Stefan and Damon because they would've been stuck there, but what do you blame Rebecca for?_

_Grams died that night, Elena. Rebecca was the one who got us into that mess. She's the one who chose to help Anna instead of stopping her. Then Grams had to do that spell because -_

"How quickly you forget that Rebecca almost died that night too," Damon said. He'd heard enough and had chosen to interrupt. "She almost died saving _you_ if I recall correctly. Your Grams knew what she was doing when she gave the borrowed energy to you."

Damon understood now. The witch was blaming everyone but herself. The tombed vampires, Rebecca, him. When really she knew she'd been a full participant in the spell. She'd been for getting him and Stefan out of the tomb too. Yes, she'd done it for Rebecca and Elena, but she'd agreed with it. And he didn't like Bonnie insulting Rebecca when she wasn't around to defend herself.

Elena didn't even get mad at him for telling Bonnie that she was acting . . . well, like a bitch. Maybe Elena was only uptight around Stefan; he did have a tendency to suck the fun out of any given situation.

* * *

Damon ended up at the Grill after the rehearsal had ended; not much had changed since the first Miss Mystic pageant. there was a small dinner and then the participants and their escorts were announced. Then came the dance. The dance would be held that Friday and until then Damon decided to stay at least semi-drunk.

Ric was at the bar, too, so Damon decided to mosey on over and annoy to his heart's content.

"Hello, Ric," he said, making himself comfortable on the stool next to the teacher. "Every time I see you, you're drinking. Maybe you should seek professional help?"

"Damon." Ric nodded. "Now my day is complete."

Ric was drinking straight vodka, which probably meant Ric wanted to get hammered.

"Feel like some company or you wanna drink alone?"

"Nobody wants to drink alone. Force of habit."

"Hm." Damon ordered bourbon and told the bartender to leave the bottle. "So, why the drowning of the sorrows?"

"Oh, I don't know, Damon," Ric said sarcastically. "I have a step-daughter who is seventeen, who I just found out about. Isobel gave her up and never mentioned her. My wife, who I at one time thought was dead, turned out to _not_ be dead, and now I'm here in Mystic Falls having a drink with the one who caused all this, all these problems in my life."

"Pretty sure I'm _not_ responsible for the step daughter bit," Damon said, though Ric was half-drunk already so it went right over the teacher's head.

"Why are you drinking?" Ric asked.

"Why am I not drinking?" Damon muttered. Damon didn't open up, though, until he was half-drunk himself. Then he told about Stefan being locked up and Rebecca being turned and not being so happy about it and _him_ feeling lousy because she was unhappy.

"Well, if you're so worried about her, why're you here drinking with me?"

Damon thought that answer was obvious. He was worried, but he didn't want to see Rebecca unhappy - and mostly he didn't want her to see him drunk because of her. But . . . Ric had a point. Damon was hiding away at the bar while Rebecca, the woman he loved, was at home suffering. He was taking the coward's way out and he wasn't a coward. So that was what decided him. He'd wasted time drinking when he should've been home helping Rebecca feel batter, adjust.

_I can be such an ass sometimes_, he scolded himself as he left the Grill.

* * *

Rebecca wasn't happy with Damon when she found out _why_ he'd been gone so long. She'd been stuck in the house all day and Damon had been going out drinking when he should've been keeping her company. She'd been okay with Elena _borrowing_ Damon for the Miss Mystic thing because she knew Damon would behave, and Elena needed an escort; it had been important to Elena's mother and Rebecca wasn't going to be the cause of her missing it. But Damon was not supposed to have been going out drinking with Ric. He wasn't supposed to leave her at home with Stefan down in the cellar.

She was still mad at him and she wasn't sorry for attacking him, but that didn't mean she wanted to do it again. Her biting him had just been payback. He'd bitten her; she'd bitten him. They were even now - for now. She might've even killed Stefan had Damon not dragged her away from him. But death to a vampire wasn't permanent unless one used a definitive method - stake to the heart, fire, beheading, so on and so forth. Stefan would've woken up shortly after the attack; he'd have been weak and disoriented, but he'd have been fine.

Whatever, the point she wanted to make was that she didn't want to be alone right now. She usually wasn't a clingy girlfriend and she didn't want to be one now, but she felt better when he was with her. She was sorry if it was an inconvenience to him that she needed taking care of at the moment, but she did need him now and she knew he knew that and that was why she was mad. He'd done it knowing she had wanted him with her. He'd been selfish for a moment, he'd had a moment of weakness. He'd made a mistake and she was good at forgiving mistakes, especially when it came to Damon.

Besides, she didn't want to argue, not now when her emotions could get the best of her. And she really didn't want to see who would win a fight if it came down to her or Damon.

Damon did seem apologetic even if he didn't apologize out loud, so . . . that was that.

"What are we going to do about John?" she asked to change the subject. "I know we can't just kill him."

Damon had told her already that if anything happened to John, the council would find out about Damon and Stefan.

So . . .

"I don't know, play it by ear."

Rebecca nodded. "We already know about the pocket watch, which Stefan gave to Elena, so it can't be that. What else did Jonathan Gilbert invent back then?"

"Well . . . until you told me about the compass I didn't know his inventions worked, so . . . But he was a crazy scientist."

"But you weren't lying when you told John that you didn't know what it was?"

"No, I wasn't lying about that." Damon shrugged. "First thing's first; we need to find out what it is."

"Well, I can call Anna and she can ask Pearl." It was a shame that Rebecca hadn't known about the invention before because she could've asked Anna before instead of them having to wait. Aside from Stefan Anna, Pearl, and Harper, were the only other vampires still in Mystic Falls that had been around in 1864. Jonathan Gilbert had been infatuated with Pearl until he'd found out that she was a vampire, then he'd helped capture her and would've killed her had the tomb not been available. Some infatuation.

* * *

That night Rebecca made a visit to another one of her friends; Jeremy. Elena was at the boardinghouse with Damon, so Rebecca thought that now would be a perfect time to see Jeremy. Elena couldn't interfere.

Rebecca got an invitation from Jenna and went up to Jeremy's room. He seemed surprised to see her there since it was so late.

"Yeah, well, I have something I need to tell you and it isn't something I wanted to say over the phone."

"Okay."

Jeremy led her to the bed and they both sat down.

"The night of the Founder's party, after you left my house, I was attacked . . ."

"Well, are you okay? You seem fine," he said, looking her over, sort of like Elena had. "Was it a . . . vampire?"

"It was," Rebecca answered. "It was bad and Damon had to save me."

"Save you how? What d'you mean?"

"I died that night, Jer. I'm a vampire now."

Jeremy looked like he was wondering whether or not she was joking.

"That's why I haven't been around to see you and haven't called. I couldn't come out during the day and I didn't know how to tell you without us being face to face."

Jeremy's puppy eyes fell to the necklace around Rebecca's neck - the one Damon had given her, the one that had contained vervain for her when she'd been human; the one that had a lapis lazuli stone embedded for her now that she was a vampire.

"Doesn't that let you get around when the sun is out?"

Rebecca hadn't told him that part - she hadn't thought it important - so how did he know?

"Did Anna tell you that?"

"No," Jeremy said guiltily. "Elena's diary told me that."

"Jer! You read her diary? That's -"

"Before you go on about the invasion of her privacy, I read a bit about Elena asking Damon to erase my memories of what happened to Vicki. You forgot to mention that part when you were explaining everything, huh?"

"Jer, I - I told Elena not to do that. I never wanted you to forget. I'm sorry."

Rebecca didn't know why she was apologizing. She hadn't done anything wrong; she'd been against Jeremy losing his memories from the second Elena had suggested it. Jeremy couldn't be mad at her for something she hadn't done.

"I know you didn't agree with it. Elena had a lot to say about that. She didn't trust you alone with me for quite a while after that."

"Yeah, I - I remember."

Rebecca inhaled and then held her breath. She'd suddenly gotten a big whiff of Jeremy's scent. The window was open and the air made the scent flow around the room. She hadn't fed before she'd come and it was coming back to haunt her.

"What's the matter?" Jeremy asked, concerned.

"Nothing. I'm still new, that's all." And he smelled really good. "I, uh, I need to leave. I don't want to risk hurting you; I just wanted you to know since I knew Elena wouldn't tell you."

"Right. She would just lie. That's all she does is lie."

Rebecca was going to mention that Jeremy was being unfair, but then she remembered _she'd_ thought that too back when Jeremy had had his memories taken away. She hadn't liked all the secrecy then and she didn't like it now, but she understood it more now than she had then.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "that she lied to you and that you had to read her diary to find out about your memories. But I'm getting hungry, so I really need to go. I don't have control of myself yet."

"Well, you haven't attacked me."

"Yet," she said, half joking and half serious. "I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure . . . You're . . . you're not going to tell Elena about me reading her diary, are you?"

"No, Jer, I wouldn't do that. I kept Elena's secret from you, so it's only fair that I keep yours from her. But you should tell her some time, hear her out before you actually get mad at her."

As against it as she had been . . . Rebecca knew now that Elena had only asked Damon to alter Jeremy's memories because she loved him; she hadn't wanted him to be hurt.

Rebecca left the Gilbert residence feeling uneasy and happy at the same time. Uneasy because of the fallout that would eventually come from Jeremy having read Elena's diary and learned everything pertaining to him and all the vampires. But she was happy because Jeremy hadn't made a big deal about her dying and becoming a vampire. To Jeremy, Rebecca was just going through another stage in her life. She was still her.

Best of all, Jeremy was still her friend.

* * *

Back at the boarding house, Damon was talking to Elena about Stefan's blood addiction.

"A month ago I would've rejoiced, but with the council back on alert it is _not_ a good time for Stefan to be flying off the handle. He has a fridge of stolen blood-bank contraband in the house.

"Oh, my God," Elena said.

"Stefan doesn't know what normal is; his entire existence isn't normal." Vampires were supposed to drink from humans, not animals; it wasn't natural. "Normal for a vampire is drinking human blood. He's spent all this time fighting it, when he should've been learning to control it. And now it's controlling him instead."

"Is that why he attacked Rebecca?" Elena asked.

What had started this whole conversation was Elena asking him why the blood changed Stefan so much. So Damon had told her.

"He's Stefan on human blood, Elena. He'll do anything; he'll say anything, because he's not gonna wanna stop. Trust me."

"Then this is all my fault. I'm the one who forced him to drink my blood in the first place." Elena brought her hand to her mouth and closed her eyes. "Rebecca told me not to do it, and I didn't listen, and now . . ."

Damon hadn't explained everything to Elena just for her to feel bad about it. But Elena was good at making everything about her; everything that happened was always twisted around in Elena's mind until it was her fault. No one else made it where she was to blame, that was all on Elena.

"You saved his life, Elena. You'd do the same thing again if you had to."

The road to hell was paved with good intentions. And now they were keeping Stefan all vervained up until the human blood got out of his system.

* * *

When Rebecca got home, she played with Chelsea for a bit - after she had fed properly, or course. Since they were to be living with Damon and Stefan, Rebecca thought long and hard about what they were going to do about Chelsea when she got old enough to repeat everything back to other people. Chelsea would be a gold mine of information when she got older. Chelsea would be in danger if she ever fell into the wrong hands.

So all that thinking about giving it a try had been for nothing, and she was going to _have_ to do what was best for Chelsea, which was . . . do whatever it took to keep her safe. Even if it meant giving her up.

Even if it meant telling Damon they had to give her up.

So . . . after Chelsea was put to bed, and after Elena had settled into Stefan's room for the night, Rebecca told Damon exactly what she'd been thinking about. Damon was not happy about the conversation even coming up, so that meant Damon became distant with her, like she'd thought he would.

He pretended like he didn't care. He said, "Whatever, she's your sister."

"Don't do that. You love her, too. And you know I'm right about this. She'd be in danger if anyone ever wanted to get to me or you. And the only reason I'm talking to you about this is because you're part of her life. You have a say in it. If -"

"Well, who's gonna take care of her?" Damon demanded. "Not your dad."

Rebecca knew where Damon was coming from on this. Giuseppe had never really approved of Damon, had never really cared about him the way a father should. Damon didn't want that happening to Chelsea. He'd compelled Robert to care for Rebecca because he hadn't agreed with Robert's parenting skills.

"You could stop supplying vervain for a few days and we could compel him to take care of her. He doesn't have to love her, but he _will_ take care of her." But even as she said that last bit, her whole being was protesting. Their grandparents were in California - they would love Chelsea and that was where Robert wanted to go, but, God, it was too far away.

Damon seemed to have to think about it because he didn't answer right away. Rebecca grabbed his hands and waited for him to look her way.

"Please, Damon. I mean, if you have a better idea, _please_, I'm all ears. I don't want to give her away any more than you do, but I can't let her grow up like this, either. She needs at least a semi-normal life. She can't have that with us."

"I don't care!" Damon said, looking into Rebecca's green eyes that were brimming with tears. Rebecca didn't _want_ to give Chelsea up anymore than he did. She was only looking at for her sister. But he wasn't willing to just let Chelsea go, not when he'd actually accepted her as his own.

"I don't care," he repeated softly. "We're not sending her to California. We can't keep her safe if she's not here. Sending her away is the last resort. She's a child, and she's attached to us. Her having a normal existence doesn't compete with growing up with people who care about her.

"You said I have a say in this, so . . . I'm not letting you send her away. We'll take care of her together, here, and we'll make sure she stays safe. I promise you."

"Yeah, but what if -"

Damon did something he hadn't done in a very long time. He kissed her to shut her up. He knew she was worried about Chelsea getting hurt if she stayed here, but the truth was that if somebody wanted to get to Chelsea bad enough, it wouldn't matter where in the world she was. They would find her.

So keeping her close was the smartest option.

* * *

Okay, as you can see, Damon and Rebecca have a difference in opinion on how to keep Chelsea safe. Anyway. . . let me know what you think. I can go either way with Chelsea. I know a bunch of options for if she stays and I know a bunch of options for if they send her to California.

Let me know what you think about it!


	52. Chapter 47

Chapter Forty-Seven

Damon had thought about what Rebecca had said about Chelsea. He was willing to stop the supply of vervain to help Rebecca, but it would take a while. A month, at least, because Damon had given Liz a box full of vervain not so long ago. Plus, they wouldn't be compelling Robert to take Chelsea and leave; they would be compelling him to leave and be happy without Rebecca and Chelsea. Considering the type of father Robert had been before Damon had compelled him to care, that wouldn't be a problem.

It was now Friday, the day of the Miss Mystic Pageant and Damon had gone to the Lockwood mansion where the pageant was to be held; he was to meet her there.

Ric was driving Elena and Jenna there; John was bringing Jeremy. Anna was there already, which was good because Damon needed to talk to her; Rebecca hadn't.

"In the running for Miss Mystic Falls?" Damon teased.

"Sometimes you have to wear uncomfortable heels to blend in," she answered. "Why're you here?"

"Elena needed an escort."

"Uh, Stefan?"

"My brother is . . . temporarily unavailable right now. Like a phone line that's on the fritz. You know?"

"Hm. I remember this event from 1864. I was supposed to enter before everything happened."

"Ahh, nostalgia's a bitch," he said.

Damon remembered this event, too. Of course he'd already been changed and hadn't been able to go, but . . . he still remembered it.

"If you're just gonna mock me, can you move along, please?"

"John Gilbert thinks your mom stole an artifact from Jonathan senior . . . senior back in 1864." Damon said, getting to the point, mostly because Damon hated small talk.

"What are you, his errand boy?"

"I don't know what it is, but I don't want him to have it. If it's something he wants, it can't be good for us."

"I could ask her," Anna said casually, "but you've made it pretty clear that you don't trust us, so why should I even bother?"

"Because you wanna stay in Mystic Falls and John Gilbert's in town making that impossible. Find out where it is, he leaves, and you can buy a welcome mat."

Damon wasn't even sure John had been telling the truth about Pearl having stolen the invention but now Anna knew everything he and Rebecca did.

* * *

The time came for the girls to line up at the top of the stairs and for the escorts to line up downstairs. One of the girls from the Fell family came down to meet her escort and then Damon heard two conversations going on at once. Caroline and Elena were upstairs talking and Jeremy and Anna were a little bit off to the left of Damon.

Caroline was complaining about not being able to be with Matt; they wouldn't let him out of work. And Elena was saying she never should've gone through with this; she wasn't that person anymore.

_"Uh, no. No, no, no way. You had your chance to drop out,"_ Blondie said. _"And believe me, I was all for it because there is no way that I can beat you. But, Elena, you're doing this because it was important to your mom."_

Caroline didn't get to say anything else because her name was announced next and she had to come down the stairs. So Damon went on to listen to Jeremy's and Anna's conversation.

_"You're gonna miss Elena's introduction."_

_"I don't care," _Jeremy said.

Then Anna said something that really got Damon's attention. _"So she has no idea that you read her journal?"_

_"If she keeps things from me, I'm gonna keep things from her."_

_"What are you gonna do now? Now that you know everything that she's been hiding from you?"_

Up to that point, Damon had thought that if Jeremy ever found out everything it would be because of Rebecca; he'd never thought of Elena's diary being the Pandora's box of their secrets.

_"I don't know,"_ Jeremy answered Anna's question. _"There's a part of me that's so angry. I mean, she covered up what happened to Vicki and erased my memory, but there's also this other part of me that's glad. I . . . I don't wanna remember Vicki like that."_

_"As a monster?"_

_"No, as someone who wanted to hurt me."_

_"When I met you," _Anna said carefully, _"you were just a part of my plan to get my mother back. But then things changed. All the time we spent together. I would never do anything to hurt you. Not now, you know that, right?"_

_"Yeah, I know that,"_ Jeremy said.

"Miss Elena Gilbert escorted by Mr. Damon Salvatore."

Damon watched Elena come down the stairs; she seemed nervous. He found that odd because she'd yelled at him, confronted him bravely, but now that they were just going to _dance_ she was nervous.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs Damon took her hand like he was supposed to do and walked her outside to the garden area where the dance was to take place. He told her to relax; it was just a dance.

They honored each other - Damon with a bow and Elena with a curtsy - and then the dance began. They flirted with their eyes like they were supposed to and they circled around each other. When they were allowed to touch, Damon slipped Elena's hand into one of his and his other hand went to her waist; Elena put hers on his shoulder and then the dance continued.

_I've lost all my trust  
Now I'm surely trying to turn it around  
Can you still see the heart of me  
All my agony fades away  
When you hold me in your embrace  
Don't tear me down  
For all I need  
Make my heart a better place  
Give me something I can believe  
Don't tear it down  
What's left of me  
Make my heart a better place  
Make my heart a better place  
_

They stepped away from each other as the song ended and then Elena smiled softly. She wasn't nervous anymore; she'd relaxed somewhat in the middle and was herself again.

Damon and the other escorts had to lead their dance partner back inside to a stage where they were going to announce Miss Mystic Falls and, once everyone was situated, Mayor Lockwood went up and made a small speech.

"Before I crown the winner, I'd like to offer a personal thank you to all of these young ladies for their efforts to better our community."

There was a customary round of applause.

"So without further ado, it is my honor to announce our very own Miss Mystic Falls, Miss Caroline Forbes."

Elena said, "Congratulations."

"I actually won," Caroline exclaimed.

The blond and brunette hugged excitedly and then Carline received her Miss Mystic Falls ribbon. There was more cheering.

Damon was just glad he could leave now. On his way out he heard the tail end of another Elena/Bonnie confrontation.

Bonnie said,_ "I told you I wasn't gonna make you choose, but I need to make the choice for myself. Please, just leave me alone._"

So Bonnie wasn't going to be much help in getting Rebecca's necklace spelled. It was a good thing he knew more than one witch; that sort of thing tended to happen when one lived for a-hundred-and-sixty-some-odd years. He would just need to make a few phone calls.

* * *

Damon was right by his car when Anna and Pearl came out of nowhere.

"A'right, now this is getting weird."

"We're here to talk," Anna said.

"Annabelle tells me you're looking for something I took from Jonathan Gilbert."

"I'm listening," Damon said, stepping closer to the two. Pearl held out a brown piece of cloth that was wrapped around something. Damon grabbed it. "What is it?"

"Jonathan was passionate about his inventions. He confided in me that he had created a detection device meant to track down the town's vampire element."

"That was a pocket watch."

"That's what it turned out to be, yes, but that isn't what I stole. I discovered my mistake when I saw the watch in Jonathan's hand."

Damon unwrapped the thing - whatever it was - from the brown cloth. The invention - if it could be called that - was round and metal and had symbols engraved on the back of it.

"The night they took us . . . it's dial pointed at me," Pearl finished.

"So what is this?" Damon asked.

"I have no idea. But now it's yours."

"What's the catch?"

"No catch. My daughter wants to stay here. I wanna stay here. You refuse to trust us, and for good reason. Consider this an apology."

Damon nodded after thinking about it and not finding any fault with what she'd said. He _knew_ Anna wanted to stay because of Jeremy, and he knew Pearl would stay for Anna, but for them to be safe and comfortable here . . . John needed to leave.

So now they needed to find out what this invention was and why John wanted it.

* * *

Rebecca was waiting for Damon and Elena to come back - mostly because she was bored, but also because she wanted to know how the contest had ended.

Damon got there first because Elena had had to go home before she came to the boardinghouse. She'd had to get more clothes. Rebecca didn't know what she was telling Jenna to make Jenna agree to let Elena stay at the boardinghouse, but Elena did get to stay.

All three of them went down to check on Stefan, who seemed to be having some sort of nightmare even though he was awake. He wasn't responding to Damon or Elena, so Rebecca actually slapped him a couple times.

"Wake up!" she said.

"Becca!" Elena said, grabbing her arm. "Don't."

"Why not? We want him to snap out of it, don't we?"

Rebecca saw Damon smirk at that. Damon grabbed Elena by the shoulders to lead her out of the room and Rebecca followed him out.

"I hate seeing him locked up like that," Elena said.

"Well, I couldn't have him running around chewing on people while the town was looking for vampires, now, could I?"

"It had nothing to do with you actually caring about him," Elena said slyly.

"Your thing, not mine."

Now that Elena was safe on the other side of the door Rebecca didn't mind going back upstairs. Damon followed her; Elena followed Damon.

"Why is he like that? All those . . . delusions and . . ." Elena started but trailed off.

"The human blood is passing out of his system. Think of it as a mystic form of DT's. He'll get better," Damon said.

"You've seen this before?" Rebecca asked. "With Stefan?"

"A few times. He hasn't been on the human stuff that long so it shouldn't be but so bad."

* * *

Later that night, Damon was laying in bed messing with the invention Pearl had given him. He didn't know what it was supposed to do because it wasn't doing anything.

Rebecca had been taking a shower, but now she came to the bed, a fluffy white towel wrapped around her. He looked up at her and saw she was finger-brushing her hair and looking at him with _that_ look - the one that told him he might want to stop focusing on the object he was fiddling with; she wanted him to focus on _her._

That happened to be something he was very good at. When Rebecca was near enough he pulled at the towel until Rebecca let it slip away from her body. Needless to say . . . Damon forgot about the device and trained his attention to the goddess in front of him.

She took his shirt off slowly and brought her mouth down to meet his. Her lips were soft and warm. She continued kissing down his neck but stopped when she reached his collar bone. Then she looked up at him.

"I'm sorry I've been such a hassle the last few days . . ." she muttered. "I've been acting like I'm not happy being here with you, but you need to know that it's not you."

Damon had never thought it was him making her feel the way she was; she'd made it perfectly clear that she blamed Stefan and nobody else. But if she thought he needed convincing it the form of physical pleasure . . . he wasn't going to stop her.

* * *

The next morning Damon woke up in a good mood thanks to Rebecca's glorious hands and mouth and body. He still wasn't used to having a girl make love to him _for_ him. Everything Rebecca had done the night before had been for him, had been to bring him pleasure. It was a good but overwhelming feeling at the same time.

Rebecca was sleeping soundly next to him with Chelsea tucked into her middle; Rebecca had gone to get the girl from her room in the middle of the night. Chelsea wasn't sleeping. She was chewing on her own hand having a good old time.

Damon's good mood suddenly vanished. He remembered the conversation he'd had with Rebecca about giving Chelsea up. He'd said no. He wanted to watch Chelsea grow up; he wanted to see her start school and all that other stuff kids did. Damon even had his heart set on freaking out over her teenage years; he wanted to keep an eye on her when she had her first date; he wanted to kill any guy who dared to treat her in any way that could be considered disrespectful.

To take his mind off of Chelsea, Damon got up, grabbed the device he'd been trying to figure out since he'd gotten it from Pearl, and went downstairs. Elena was already downstairs getting her things together.

"Did you ever figure that out?" she asked, gesturing to the device.

"Nope. Whatever it is, it doesn't work."

"Pearl didn't say anything else about it?"

"She thought she was stealing his vampire compass, but it was a pocket watch. That Jonathan Gilbert was a crazy scientist."

Elena scoffed, but it wasn't her old scoff of disgust. It wasn't humor-filled either, but . . .

"Have you spoken to your uncle lately?"

"I've been avoiding him, actually. That, and I've been here most nights."

"So you're gonna be here again tonight?"

"Is that a problem?"

Damon looked at her, mock-serious. "Yes, you're a complete nuisance."

The brunette smiled and put her overnight bag over her shoulder. "I'll see you later."

After she was gone, Damon went out to get Stefan some bunny blood. He even brought it home so he could put the blood in a water bottle so he could take it down to Stefan.

"Brought you something to eat, 100 percent Stefan-diet approved." Stefan didn't respond or act like he'd heard Damon at all. "You know what'll happen if you don't eat; you'll get all rotting and crusty."

"I'm not hungry," Stefan said.

"Pfft. Of course you are. We're eternally hungry. Take it." Damon placed the bottle between the bars and set it there. "The human blood should be gone by now. Wanna explain why you're still in here feeling sorry for yourself. Come on, drink up."

Damon pushed the bottle into the room and onto the floor. He watched as Stefan looked up at the blood, shook his head, and looked back down.

"Fine, starve. What do I care?" Damon said. He had no patience for Stefan when he was like this.

He went upstairs, heard Rebecca in the kitchen with Chelsea and was going to go in there with her, but his cell phone rang. He didn't recognize the number but he answered anyway.

"Hello?"

"It's Alaric Saltzman."

"Before I hang up, how'd you get this number?"

"That's a mystery. Listen, I've, uh . . . I've been doing some digging on Elena's uncle. You interested?"

"What kind of digging?" If there was information to be had, then yeah, Damon was interested.

"I have an old friend from Duke. He studied criminology there. Let's just say he's become a very proficient digger."

"Well, did he . . . find anything?"

"I had him run a track on John's cell records. He's getting calls from a number; the same number that Elena dialed to get Isobel."

Damon vaguely remembered Rebecca mentioning something like that.

"Isobel knows John. Whatever, we knew that."

"Well . . . that number was disconnected. But he's started getting calls from a new number. I had my friend run a Geo-track. It's an apartment in Grove Hill."

"Isobel's in Grove Hill?" That wasn't far from Mystic Falls.

"I don't know. I thought we could take a look, see what we find."

They were a _we_ now?

"Perfect. Give me the address."

"What, so you can go without me? No, I don't think so."

"I'm not goin' with you. You tried to kill me," Damon said, realizing he sort of sounded like a five year old.

_"Damon,"_ he heard from the kitchen. _"Ric's a good guy. Play nice_._"_

He was just about to make a snarky comment about not wanting to be nice, but his call waiting on his phone beeped.

_Jeez, I'm popular today_, he thought.

"Hold on," he told Ric. Then "What?" he answered.

"I'm just grabbing some clothes and then I'll be right over. How's Stefan?"

"Extra broody. Hold on." He switched back over to Ric. "You drive. Pick me up in an hour."

"Done."

He finished talking to Ric and switched back to Elena. He sat down in his leather chair. "He won't eat anything."

"He has to eat. What's his favorite kind of, um . . ."

"His favorite type of what?" Damon asked, getting a kick out of the uncomfortableness in Elena's voice.

"Type of animal blood that he prefers?"

"Ew, gross."

"Your joking doesn't help," Elena said, though her voice had humor in it now.

"It helps me. Now, hurry up. I can't babysit all day. I have things to do."

"I would say drop dead, but . . ."

"Ha, ha, ha. Stefan likes . . . puppy blood. Little golden retriever puppies with cute floppy ears. That's his favorite."

"Ew." That was Rebecca and she was right behind him. "I hope you're joking. He's not allowed to eat puppies."

Elena had hung up on Damon, so his attention was on Rebecca. She had Chelsea on her hip, one of Rebecca's hands under her sister's bottom to secure her; her other hand held a mug of blood.

"Here," she offered it to him. "Drink. _You_ haven't eaten anything today either."

"Hm," when he took it, he noticed it was warm. "Thank you."

"Mm-hm."

"So . . . about the history teacher. You think I can trust him? He did try to kill me."

"Yes, you can trust him. He's helped save my life twice now. And I think his priorities have changed since he's found out that Isobel wanted you to change her. I don't think he really blames you anymore. He obviously doesn't mind your company or he wouldn't have called you to help him - he wouldn't have offered you the chance to come alone. He would've gone on his own."

"And gotten killed for his efforts," Damon muttered.

"Maybe he needs a friend. The only grown up he hangs around is Jenna; everyone else he spends time with is under eighteen."

"Why be friends with me? I annoy him on purpose."

"He probably knows that." Rebecca smiled. "You, however, are the most interesting person in town. And you can be a very good friend when you want to be. Give it a chance."

Damon sort of snarled his nose up. He didn't trust Ric. The only reason Ric had helped him save Stefan and Rebecca was because Damon had told him Pearl might be able to tell him where Isobel was. But he _had_ listened to Damon complain that one day at the Grill and hadn't said anything about it since; not that he'd seen Ric since then.

Still. . . Damon decided it would be best to give Ric a chance, but he would be ready for anything in case Ric got any ideas.

* * *

Elena arrived, worried about Stefan not eating. She knew as well as Damon and Rebecca did what would happen if Stefan didn't eat. So Elena went down to the cellar and Rebecca went with her.

"How're you feeling?" Elena asked, but she didn't get an answer. Elena pointed to the bottle of blood Damon had brought earlier; it hadn't been touched. "Damon says you need to drink that. You need it, Stefan. Can't survive without it."

Stefan looked up. "I don't wanna survive."

"What? Don't say that."

"I'm sorry, Elena. No more. After what I've done, it has to end. I just want it over."

Rebecca felt Elena's tension build, saw her shoulders tighten, and heard her heartbeat quicken. Elena looked at her and Rebecca shrugged. She couldn't help that Stefan was feeling guilty.

"Stefan, you can't just give up. Not after . . ." Elena shrugged. "You made a mistake. That doesn't make you a bad person."

"This is my decision. And you're not a part of it, I'm sorry."

Stefan went back to being unresponsive after that so Elena and Rebecca went back upstairs. Elena sat on the couch in front of the fireplace. Damon leaned on the back of it so he could talk to her.

"You know he's just being dramatic. He's not gonna starve himself."

"Why would he say that?"

"Because he feels bad about hurting Rebecca. It's very typical Stefan martyr stuff."

Elena looked at Rebecca when her name was mentioned. "Could you talk to him? He might listen to you. You know he never would've hurt you if he'd been himself."

"Elena . . ." Rebecca shook her head. "No."

"Please," the brunette begged. "He just -"

"She said no," Damon snapped. "Leave her alone."

"He seemed to be in a lot of pain," Elena pushed on.

"That will pass once he eats," Damon said.

"I didn't mean physical pain."

"I know what you meant. Look, are you two gonna be okay here if I go out? I have to go run an errand with the teacher."

"The teacher? Alaric?" Elena asked. "Are you two friends now?"

"I don't have any friends, Elena."

"Hey!" Rebecca exclaimed.

"Girlfriends don't count. You have to be my friend by default," he said, smirking.

"You're default friend could find a new bed to sleep in if you put her in the default category again."

"I'm so sorry," he muttered sarcastically, slipping on his leather jacket. "You should stay up here. You shouldn't be down there by yourself."

"I'll be fine," Elena said.

"You know, you're very trusting of him, given the circumstances," Damon said, heading to the door.

"So are you," Elena said, stopping him in his tracks. "Otherwise you wouldn't be leaving."

"I won't be long."

Rebecca heard a car outside - Ric's probably - so she got up and followed Damon to the door. She kissed him quickly and wished him good luck. If John was involved in this, he might need it.

After Damon left, Sarah came downstairs. Rebecca wasn't sure, but she thought the girl was a little intimidated by Damon. Either that or she had a crush on him and was avoiding him because of it.

Rebecca went to get Chelsea, who had been in her crib in the space Damon had prepared for her; Chelsea had her main room upstairs for night time when everyone was asleep, but she also had a smaller room for day time. It was easier that way, and Rebecca was content with letting Chelsea be alone for awhile to sleep . . . as long as Sarah wasn't downstairs. But since Sarah had come out of hibernation, Rebecca wanted Chelsea close. Just a precaution.

* * *

Things were fine at the boardinghouse for the first thirty minutes after Damon left. Then Elena wanted to talk to Stefan again, so she went down to the cellar. She told Rebecca to stay upstairs so she could talk to Stefan alone and Rebecca had agreed.

All she heard from Stefan was, _"You shouldn't be here."_

_"I know,"_ Elena answered. _"You know . . . hurting Rebecca . . . that wasn't you."_

_"Oh, it was absolutely me,"_ Stefan replied. _"That's who I am, Elena. A monster, a predator."_

_"That's what the blood makes you."_

_"The blood brings out what's inside of me and if you think any differently, then you're an idiot. I wanted to drain every ounce of blood from Rebecca's body."_

_"No, No, you can't scare me off."_

Rebecca thought Stefan was right; Elena was an idiot. Stefan sounded agitated and she was still down there, badgering him to talk.

_"Why would you risk it? Why would you come in here?"_

Rebecca was instantly alert. Elena had gone into the room with Stefan? The brunette must've been deliberately quiet so Rebecca wouldn't know what she was doing when Elena had unlocked the cellar door.

_"Because I did this,"_ Elena answered. "_This is my fault. I'm the one who made you drink the blood."_

_"All you did was expose me to who I really am," _Stefan said, sounding semi-sane at least.

_"This isn't you."_

"Stop saying that!" Stefan yelled. Then, _"Don't get any closer."_

_"I'm not gonna let this happen to you, Stefan."_

Rebecca left Chelsea with Sarah, insuring Sarah that she would kill her if she hurt Chelsea in any way, and raced down to the cellar.

"Stefan, I'm not gonna give up on you. I believe in you."

All Rebecca saw then was Elena in the room with Stefan, the door unlocked and open. Then she heard Stefan growl out, "Stop!" and Elena was shoved out the door and into the wall. Stefan came with her and pinned her there. He didn't do anything but keep her there, but Rebecca wasn't going to take any chances, so she rushed over to Stefan and wrestled him back into the cellar room.

"Have you lost your mind?" Rebecca asked. "Don't you ever touch her like that again!"

Rebecca noticed that Stefan had tears in his eyes and they spilled over onto his cheeks. He had shoved Elena; he was so unstable he'd hurt the one he cared about the most.

Rebecca leaned closer to Stefan so Elena wouldn't hear what she was going to say. "Damon's brother or not, I will kill you if you don't get it together."

She shoved him onto his cot and then locked him back up. She should dose him with more vervain, just to be on the safe side.

Rebecca went to Elena, who had pretty much collapsed onto the floor from shock, and helped her back up.

"Damon told you not to come down here. You should've listened." When Elena was back on her feet Rebecca began leading her upstairs. "Are you okay?"

"Why is he like that? Damon drinks human blood and he's not like that."

"Yeah, but Damon isn't used to drinking from animals, either. He's spent his time learning to control that part of himself. Stefan's been avoiding it."

Rebecca thought it was time to explain to Elena how Stefan had been at the beginning of his vampire life.

"Come on, Elena, we have a lot to talk about."

* * *

Okay, so I know this is a little different from the show because of Stefan having attacked Rebecca and Damon having to escort Elena to the pageant. But this was the only way I could seem to make it work for me. LOL

Let me know what you think!


	53. Chapter 48

Chapter Fifty-Eight

"This is the one here," Ric said to Damon. "The records show this was paid three months in advance."

"This is where it gets tricky. I may or may not be able to get in."

"How _does_ that work? You always have to be invited in?"

"By the owner or person of entitlement. Short term rentals and hotels are a bit of a gray area. You kinda gotta play it by ear."

Damon went up to the door and messed with the knob. The door was locked. He heard Alaric scoff and looked back. "What?"

"Could we not kill anyone tonight?"

"You just brought me along for my company?"

Damon used his vampire strength to break the locking mechanism and ushered Ric inside.

"Doesn't look like anyone's home," the teacher said.

Ric looked back at Damon, and Damon studied the doorway. He cautiously slipped his foot inside. No invite needed.

"Yeah, I'm good. No permanent resident, apparently."

They walked through the living room - everything seemed normal. Damon went one way towards the kitchen and Ric went down the hallway towards what were probably the bedrooms.

Damon went straight for the fridge. There were blood bags, so _that_ was why he hadn't needed an invitation. A human didn't live here; a vampire did. Maybe Isobel.

"Uh, Ric. We have company."

Damon then heard sounds of a struggle and went to investigate. Ric was up against the wall and a vampire was choking him. But Ric was resourceful. He had spiked wooden knuckles - kind of like brass knuckles only these were made to fight vampires with - and had punched the vampire in the stomach. Damon pushed him to the floor.

"Boys, boys, boys. That's enough." Damon looked at the guy on the floor. He had dark blond hair, spiked. "I know you. Your name is Henry; you were in the tomb."

"Yes, sir." Henry looked between Damon and Ric. "What're you doing here?"

Damon went on to explain about the council and John Gilbert - it turned out Henry already knew about John.

"So, how do you know John?" Henry asked.

"Well, I've known him for years. He's a good friend. How do you know him?"

"I met him right after I got out of the tomb. He's been helping me out."

"Helping you out how?" Ric asked.

Henry led them to the kitchen and offered Damon some blood. Damon accepted.

"John's helping me adapt. It's a whole new world. Cars, computers. There's so much to learn. He helped me get this place."

"So do you live here alone? Or, uh, is there someone else here?" Ric asked.

Henry looked at him suspiciously and Damon gave Ric a dark look.

"That's my friends' very _passive-aggressive_ way of asking do you know a woman named Isobel?"

"Uh, no. No. I don't know an Isobel. I know John. He's my only real friend. He really showed me the ropes. How to use a microwave, separate my whites."

John was being nice to this guy, which begged the question . . . what did John want from him?

"What do you do for him?" Ric asked.

"Keep an eye on things with the others."

"The others?"

"From the tomb," Henry specified. "They're still pissed at the founding families for trying to burn them alive. I mean, I'm cool, but those tomb boys, they want revenge."

"What does John want with them?"

"He's just keeping an eye on them, you know, making sure they stay out of trouble."

"Well, that's John," Damon said. "He's such a do-gooder."

Damon had thought the tomb vampires were gone, but according to what he'd just found out he was wrong.

Henry's cell phone rang and, ironically enough, it was John.

"Oh, hey," Damon said. "Let me talk to him."

"A'right. Yeah."

Henry was so naive. Damon remembered being that way once. Henry handed him the phone and Damon let it ring a few times.

"Are you . . . gonna answer that?"

Damon looked at Ric. "Am I gonna . . . answer that?"

Ric shook his head. Henry got suspicious again. Damon figured he was probably wondering whether he should stay or leave.

"What's goin' on?" Henry asked.

Neither Damon nor Ric answered, so Henry went for Ric - him being human - and Damon grabbed Henry and turned him away from Ric, then Ric staked Henry through the back and Henry fell to the floor.

"Let's not kill anyone tonight. Your words, just pointin' that out," Damon said and Ric glared a little but didn't say anything. "And why didn't you mention you had your weapons with you?"

Ric shrugged. "Thought you might take it the wrong way. I did try to kill you once."

"Yes, you did."

Ric looked down at the now mummified body of Henry "What're we doing with him?"

"Leaving him for John to find. He'll realize something's wrong if no one answers enough times." In a moment of impulsive curiosity Damon asked, "Why did you bring me with you? Why did you come to me with this . . . new information?"

Ric was silent for a few seconds and then the teacher shrugged. "I don't know. You were stressed out of your head the other day, thought you could use a distraction. Maybe I shouldn't nave bothered." Ric stepped over Henry's body. "I'm gonna look around some more. I'll be back in a minute."

* * *

Rebecca was back down in the cellar with Elena. She thought Elena was being an idiot for confronting Stefan again after what had happened, but she wasn't going to leave Elena alone with him, either.

"I could be at those bars in a flash, and you'd be dead," Stefan said.

"Yeah, you could . . . but you won't," Elena said, sounding sure of herself.

Rebecca remembered that even after Damon had attacked her that she hadn't been afraid of him. She had known he hadn't meant to hurt her and that he wouldn't have done it if he hadn't been starving. She wondered if that was how Elena was feeling - only, instead of Stefan starving . . . Stefan was just nuts.

"Please just go away," Stefan said. "I don't want you here."

Elena looked at Rebecca and then at the door they were standing behind. Rebecca knew what Elena was thinking even before the brunette unlocked the door.

"Elena, didn't you learn the last time?"

"What're you doing?" Stefan asked. "Get out of here."

"No," Elena said firmly.

Rebecca shook her head in disbelief. Sometimes she thought Elena was too stupid to live. She didn't know how her friend had survived this long being so retarded.

"You're taking a stupid risk. I could hurt you."

"Then I'm stupid," Elena said.

"That's the truest thing you've said all year," Rebecca muttered.

She watched Elena pick up the still untouched bottle of blood and tell Stefan he needed to drink. Stefan knocked it out of her hand and told her to leave.

"No," Elena said again.

Stefan collapsed onto the cot and Elena looked at him in annoyance. Maybe she was finally fed up enough to blame Stefan and not herself.

Elena sat beside Stefan and said, "Talk to me, Stefan. Why're you doing this?"

"I'm making the decision I should've made years ago."

"What're you talking about?"

"You have to feed in order to complete the transition. It was a choice I shouldn't have made."

"Oh, my God," Rebecca said. "Should have, could have, would have. Nothing you say right now is going to change anything. Stop complaining and get over it."

"Becca . . ." Elena said. "Leave. Now. I get that you have no sympathy for Stefan right now, but you're not helping. Go."

"Fine," Rebecca agreed. She didn't want to sit through Stefan's pity party anyway. She might just stake him to shut him up.

Couldn't Elena see he was trying to make her feel sorry for him? He had messed up and now instead of owning up to the fact that he was a vampire he was just making excuses so he could get out of it.

Rebecca went back upstairs. If Stefan attacked Elena then so be it. Elena had gone into the room of her own free will, knowing it was stupid to do so; it was no longer Rebecca's problem.

She still listened for the tell-tale sign of Stefan losing control, but all she heard was Stefan telling her about how he'd transitioned by killing his father. Granted, that had been an accident, and self-defense. Stefan had only just woken up and he'd wanted to say good-bye to Giuseppe, but when he'd arrived at the house to do so, he'd found out that Giuseppe had been the one to kill him and Damon. Then Giuseppe had come after him with a stake and Stefan had reacted instinctively to protect himself. Giuseppe had begun to bleed and the rest was history.

_"How can you even look at me right now?"_ Stefan asked.

_"You need to be able to talk about these things, Stefan,"_ Elena assured. _"I need to hear them. From you, not from everyone else. Come upstairs. We can talk some more and we'll keep talking as long as you need."_

_"You're so sure I'm ready?"_

_"And when you feel the same way . . . I'll be upstairs."_

When Elena got to Rebecca, Elena told her that she'd left the daylight ring downstairs for Stefan to decide what to do with. She'd given him a choice.

* * *

"Did you find anything yet?" Damon asked Ric as the teacher walked into the living room of the house they were in.

"No. The place is - the place is clean."

Damon tossed him a bottle of beer. "Well, I found this behind the blood in the fridge."

Ric popped the top. "Oh, man, this was a real dead end."

"I wouldn't beat myself up over it, man." Damon knew what it was like, searching for something he had close to no chance of finding. "What'd you think you were gonna find, huh? Isobel with a cigar and slippers?"

Damon looked at Ric with something akin to sympathy. He had looked and _looked_ for ways of getting back to Rebecca sooner after she'd disappeared. He knew what it was like to miss someone so much he'd do anything to get back to them. That was how he'd become the way he was now. He never would've survived so long had he stayed the way he'd been when he'd been human.

Ric chuckled as Damon began going through the mail that was sitting on a desk table.

"Oh, man, I -" Damon thought Ric's tone held serious self-condemnation "- I gotta stop this. I can't - I can't keep searching for her."

"Really? After only two years?" Damon pulled a chair over and sat on it backwards, one leg on either side of the seat. "That's actually . . . moderately healthy."

Ric sighed. "I mean, no answer is enough. I keep thinking I wanna know why. When? You know, the precise moment when my wife decided life with me wasn't enough."

"She charmed me, you're wife, Isobel. She talked a good game. She was smart. She had this excitement in her eyes. Should've know there was something different about her. Had to be some reason I didn't kill her."

"That's enough, Damon. I don't wanna hear anymore. I just don't wanna waste anymore of my life searching for answers that I really don't want."

Ric stood up, which Damon guessed meant he was ready to go. They left Henry there for John to find, like they'd planned, and went to Ric's car.

"I'm through with Isobel," Ric said. "I'm done with all of this."

* * *

Rebecca was sitting on the couch with Elena, when Damon got back. She'd missed him. Just this short amount of time had felt like days. More than that, though, was the fact that even though she'd _threatened_ to kill Stefan she knew she wouldn't have without Damon's permission, so she'd wanted Damon here to deal with Stefan.

"Ugh, you're still here?" he asked Elena, teasing.

"Were you expecting anything else?"

"Nope." Damon sat beside Rebecca, in between her and Elena. Chelsea was on Rebecca's lap; Elena's diary was on the brunette's.

"So . . . how was the errand?"

"Futile. Although, I think I witnessed the teacher having an existential crisis. Has Stefan eaten yet?"

"I thought you didn't care," Elena reminded him.

"Chalk it up to morbid curiosity."

"I think he's getting there. Rebecca wasn't a big help; she makes him feel even guiltier."

Rebecca shrugged. "Stefan killed me. He deserves to feel that guilt." Then she glared. "And I was too helping. I told him to get over it."

Now Elena was looking at Damon. "It also doesn't help that you've spent the last 145 years punishing him for attacking Rebecca."

Rebecca glared at Elena. How was that Damon's fault?

"This is my fault now?"

"No," Elena said, "it's no one's fault, Damon. I'm just saying you're not exactly innocent in all this. You've made it your life's mission to make him miserable."

Damon stood up. Rebecca could tell he was hurt and a little frustrated.

"Let me ask you a question. In all this important soul-searching and cleansing of the demons of Stefan's past . . . did you ever manage to get the rest of the story?"

"He said there was more," Elena said.

"Yeah, that's an understatement."

Instead of divulging any information, Damon began to walk out of the room and toward the stairs.

"Damon," Elena said, calling him back.

"Good going, Elena," Rebecca said. "Now he's in a bad mood. Here, take Chelsea."

Rebecca was sure Damon wouldn't hurt Chelsea no matter what mood he was in, but she needed to be alone with Damon.

"Becca, what's he talking about?"

"None of your business, Elena. Stay here."

* * *

Damon was upstairs, getting ready to pitch a fit, when Rebecca came into the room.

"She doesn't know, Damon. I never told her what happened. It wasn't my story to tell. You need to be the one to do it."

Damon had been about to be like a rock star trashing the room he was in - it was better than going out and killing someone.

"You don't have to tell her if you don't want to, Damon. It's up to you. But she won't understand unless she knows."

Damon knew that was true, but he wished people would stop blaming him for something his brother had done. But _nobody_ knew about Stefan forcing him to turn except for Rebecca and that was only because she'd been there.

He felt Rebecca take his face in her hands. Her hands were gentle and her face was sympathetic and compassionate.

"It doesn't matter what she thinks, Damon. It only matters what you think." Rebecca muttered. "Let her think whatever she wants if you don't feel like clearing anything up."

Damon remembered Rebecca telling him something similar when he'd been human; they'd been sitting by the pond at the original Salvatore house. She'd basically told him he should do whatever he wanted; if it made him happy, it didn't matter what anyone else thought.

The problem was that Damon did care about what certain people thought about him. Rebecca mostly, but Elena too, to a certain extent. The only problem with Elena was that she'd been brainwashed to believe all the things Stefan said to her.

To Stefan, Damon had been a monster. He'd always let Stefan provoke him into doing something . . . wrong . . . it had made Damon look like the bad guy, while Stefan came away looking like the white knight.

Maybe it was time to burst Elena's bubble about her boyfriend.

"I need a drink," Damon muttered.

Rebecca nodded, understanding. "Come downstairs. We can talk this out. Take as long as you need."

It struck Rebecca as weird that she'd told Damon pretty much the exact same thing Elena had said to Stefan. They could talk for however long he needed to. They would make Elena understand how Damon, ruthless as he could be, hadn't wanted to become what he was.

* * *

Damon began drinking as soon as he got downstairs. At first he talked about stuff that didn't really matter; he was giving himself time to feel the effects of the alcohol. He started the story with Katherine being captured. Whether he'd been compelled or not, that was where everything had started.

Rebecca had gotten involved because of him. He, Stefan, and Rebecca had tried to help Katherine, and Rebecca had only done it for him; it had turned out that Katherine hadn't needed any help. She'd never let herself be captured in the first place.

Stefan and Damon had been shot in the process of helping her and had died. They'd had Katherine's blood in their systems so they had woken back up with the choice of feeding and changing or _not_ feeding and really dying.

"I didn't want to change," Damon admitted. "Becca couldn't stay and I _knew_ how long I'd have to wait to see her again. It wasn't what I wanted."

He went on to explain how Rebecca had been attacked by Stefan and how Stefan had brought her, the only person who had meant anything to him at that point in his life, for him to feed on.

"From the moment Stefan had his first taste of human blood . . . he was a different person. I suppose I should thank him. It's been a hell of a ride."

Damon's voice was starting to slur; the alcohol was working.

"Oh, my God," Elena said. "He said he wanted to die. That's why he won't feed. Now I understand why, but -"

"His choice," Damon said. "If he's stupid enough to make it, so be it."

"Don't do that, okay?" Elena said, glaring. "Don't pretend like you don't care."

She walked away and Damon drunkenly said, "Where're you goin'?"

"Stefan," Elena answered. "I need to talk to him."

"Of course you do," Rebecca muttered. It wasn't like Damon had revealed one of his deepest secrets or anything.

Within a minute Elena was back. "Stefan's gone. He didn't take his ring with him."

It clicked instantly what that meant. Stefan had gone somewhere to wait for the sun to rise. He was really going to kill himself. He really did think he should've died that night 145 years ago. He thought he should've let Damon die, too. But he hadn't.

"I have to go. I have to find him," Elena said.

"You don't even know where he is," Damon said.

"Oh, I think I do. The quarry. That's where everything started. I'm not gonna let him die; it won't change anything that happened."

Rebecca knew that Stefan blamed himself for all the things Damon had done. Every person Damon had hurt, every single life that had been lost . . .

Stefan was such a drama queen.

Elena grabbed her car keys and ran out the door.

"Don't you think we should -"

"He won't hurt her," Damon said, downing another glass of bourbon.

Rebecca grabbed the hand with the glass in it and slipped the glass out of it. "You don't need this."

"Oh, on the contrary, I need it very much." He made a grab for it, but Rebecca hid it behind her back.

She knew that instead of doing things the easy way and getting a new glass, Damon would try to wrestle the glass away from her. So she backed away and Damon followed.

Sarah was still in the house, and she had never even tried to hurt Chelsea, who was asleep just now, so Rebecca felt close to no anxiety about leaving her sister with the vampire.

Rebecca silently put the glass down on the closest table and then took off, shouting, "Bet you can't catch me!" as she went toward the door. She knew he'd follow if she challenged him. Damon's pride wouldn't allow him not to try now that she'd told him he couldn't catch her.

Besides that, she was giving him a distraction; one that didn't include alcohol.

She ended up in the woods with Damon right behind her; Damon was having a good time. He knew Rebecca was doing this for him, to take his mind off of things. And it was working for now.

Damon was surprised that he didn't have to hold back. He was older than Rebecca in every way, which meant he was supposed to be faster. But he wasn't. Rebecca's Slayer strength must've passed over when she died and magnified her vampire strength. It was the same with her speed, he guessed.

She seemed to be having fun, running around in the woods. She was grinning and laughing; every time he would go to grab her she would slip away. The predator part of him was very much enjoying the chase, even if he wasn't going to get blood out of it. The man part of him thought Rebecca was sweeter and lovelier than ever. He hadn't seen her smile and really be happy since before she'd been attacked by the tomb vampires.

Finally, Damon caught up with her and grabbed her around the waist to pull her back to him. She giggled as her back hit his chest. Damon remembered they used to do this when he'd been human, play cat and mouse.

"Got you," he said in her ear. "The question now becomes . . . what do we do now?"

His voice was a purr and Rebecca shivered from the tone of his voice.

"What do you _wanna_ do?" Rebecca asked, turning around and slipping her hands up and over his shoulders.

She smiled sweetly and looked up at him through her lashes. Her emerald eyes had darkened. The chase had made both of their animal instincts' come to the surface; it made her want Damon right then just as much as he wanted her. She pushed him gently back against the nearest tree and fiercely attacked his neck with kisses and soft bites, careful not to break the skin.

Damon brought his hands down to cup her butt and pull her closer. It reminded him that she was wearing one of her delicate peasant skirts; it would be so easy to rip it off - but, alas, she needed her skirt.

He felt Rebecca's hands underneath his black woolen sweater and he groaned as her fingernails raked against his abs.

"Becca!"

"Hm?" she said, still kissing him but letting up a little.

Damon liked this, Rebecca's new assertiveness. She was able to show her sensuality and responsiveness without feeling uncomfortable about it.

"Don't stop," Damon said, grabbing her face and leading her lips to his. He realized he should be more worried about Stefan, but he also realized that Stefan wouldn't kill himself, not when Elena got there. So he didn't mind letting himself enjoy what was happening.

He was pulled away from the tree and his shirt was pushed over his head. Her mouth followed her hands, but Damon grabbed her and moved so they were on the ground now, her on top. He heard and felt as the zipper of his jeans came undone and he jerked as Rebecca took his shaft into her hands.

Damon, knowing Rebecca obviously wanted to be in control right now, decided to let her play . . . for now.

It didn't take long for him to become impatient, however. He wanted to touch and tease, too.

When Damon flipped them over, the leaves crunching beneath them, he pretty much ripped the panties from her and she giggled and gasped at the same time. Neither of them fully undressed, yet . . . there they were in the middle of the woods. A very small pang went through Damon and he paused before making the final move to fill her.

"You sure you want to do this here?"

"I'm not complaining," she muttered before claiming his mouth with her own.

So Damon had no problem continuing. Damon was glad they were going to be together forever. His quirky little Vampire-Slayer-turned vampire was quite the experimental lover as well. If it was him asking, she was usually okay with it. She knew he would never make her do anything she didn't want to.

And Rebecca was as tight as a virgin and always would be, Damon reminded himself. He hadn't overused her body when she'd been human and he'd never hurt her that way like some vampires would have.

Damon could tell when she was close because her legs began quivering and she began begging him not to stop - not to _ever_ stop. Damon didn't know if that was within his range of abilities, but he would try his best, to keep her happy.

* * *

"You tore my underwear," Rebecca said from underneath him. She was only pretend complaining; she couldn't care less what had happened to her underwear. Not after that love-making session.

"Ugh! I'll buy you some new ones. Bunches. Just so I can rip them off of you."

Rebecca felt another thrill go through her at those words, but she knew they'd been gone long enough. An hour, around about. She wished they could stay out there longer, stay in their own little portion of the world, take Chelsea with them, and leave everything else behind.

"Damon?" she said, feeling vulnerable and young - even younger than she really was.

"Hm?"

"Once we get everything taken care of with Robert and Tina . . . I don't wanna stay here. Everything in this town is going to grow old and move on, and I'm not. I don't fit here anymore. I mean, the only people I really care about are Elena, Jeremy, Caroline and Bonnie."

_Not including Chelsea, of course. _But they would be taking her with them.

"Elena has Stefan; Jeremy has Anna. Caroline has Matt. And Bonnie . . . well, Bonnie doesn't really have anyone because she won't let herself associate with anyone anymore."

Damon had been helping Rebecca situate her clothing but was now taking in Rebecca's sad green eyes. Another hard fact about being a vampire had sunk in for her. The world would continue to change and move forward, but she never would. She was stuck as she was; nothing would ever really change her unless she shut her humanity out.

With her being changed so recently, it was not a good idea for her to give up things she'd had when she'd been human; it would tempt her to flip the switch and Damon didn't want that happening. But . . .

"If, when we get Robert and Tina taken care of, you still want to leave, we'll leave."

Rebecca nodded her head and Damon saw a tear fall from her jawline, the trail of it having fallen from her eye and down her cheek. He grabbed her face and thumbed away the wetness. She sniffled and closed her eyes.

"You won't be like this forever," Damon assured. "It'll level out, I promise. It'll just take some time."

* * *

Instead of running back to the boardinghouse, they walked halfway so Rebecca could get control of her emotions. Rebecca hated the mood swings. PMS was nothing compared to this. It was like she was manic depressive or something; one second she was up, the next she was down.

When they reached the boardinghouse, Stefan and Elena were already there, holding hands, heading into the parlor.

"Little boy lost," Damon muttered.

"I'll be upstairs," Elena told Stefan.

Rebecca noticed her brunette friend looking at her strangely. She probably had leaves in her hair or something. And Stefan could probably smell what they'd been doing.

"Um . . . I'm going upstairs, too. Shower, change, bed . . ."

Damon watched her leave. The recent release he'd had within Rebecca had been forgotten, for there was a new tension now that he was seeing Stefan again.

"Thank you," Stefan said.

"No, Stefan, thank you. You're back on Bambi blood, and I'm the big bad-ass brother again. All's right in the world."

Damon went to the couch and sat down, saw the invention he'd been toying with earlier and picked it up.

"No, I mean it," Stefan said, sitting beside him. "Thank you for helping her take care of me."

"You brood too much. Everything on this planet is not your fault. My actions, what I do, it's not your fault. I own them. They belong to me. You're not allowed to feel my guilt."

"Do you feel guilt?" Stefan asked curiously.

Damon hadn't realized how monumentally pissed off he'd been at Stefan until that moment. Stefan had killed Rebecca, forcing Damon to make the decision to turn her or . . . let her die, which hadn't been a decision at all, there was no choice there. And then he'd planned on killing himself, which might've been a desperate cry for attention or a cry for help; Damon wasn't sure which it was. Now here they were, talking about their feelings.

"If I wanted to, it's there," Damon admitted. Then . . . "Why Becca, Stefan? Out of all the girls in Mystic Falls, why did you have to go after _her_? You couldn't go suck on somebody else? I mean, did you do it to get at me? Are you still trying to take her away after all this time?"

"It wasn't about you," Stefan said firmly. "I needed help and I didn't want to go to Elena. I didn't think I could come to _you_. She was the only one left. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"You still killed her," Damon said, walking past Stefan and going toward the stairs.

The familiar rage that Damon had felt over the last 145 years was beginning to consume him again. He and Stefan had been trying to salvage whatever was left of their brotherhood, but now that was going to have to be put on hold. Damon had _so_ wanted his brother back, had so wanted that relationship to reform.

He should've known it wouldn't work; the relationship had been dead for the past century and a half . . . there was no way it could just . . . reanimate itself after so long.

Rebecca was waiting for him at the door when he reached the room. She had a sympathetic look on her face; she'd had no choice but to listen to his and Stefan's conversation.

"He really did ask me for help, Damon, and he really didn't think he could come to you."

"I'm his brother. Of course he could've come to me!" he said, lashing out and knocking a lamp off the bedside table.

"Damon!" Rebecca exclaimed.

Rebecca had never been around Damon when he let his anger come out; she was shocked to find that he was scaring her. His eyes weren't seeing her there. He was lost in his rage right now.

He wouldn't hurt her, she was certain of that, but it still frightened her to see this side of him, and it wasn't until then that she realized how tightly in control Damon usually kept himself.

For him to let go now, everything must've been too much. Her being a vampire; Stefan being the one to kill her; Stefan threatening to kill himself; Damon finally telling someone what had really happened all those many years ago when he'd been forced to turn.

All these things had gotten to Damon and he hadn't been able to hold it in anymore.

* * *

Okay, so here's the newest chapter. I honestly believe that in the show Damon followed Elena to the quarry to make sure Stefan didn't hurt her and to make sure Stefan didn't kill himself, but since this is my story I changed it to where he didn't. Also, there at the end, I made Damon lash out because that's usually how he deals with his anger - he lashes out. And you never get to see how much something is hurting him or bothering him until he does so.

Hope you enjoyed!


	54. Chapter 49

Chapter Forty-Nine

Damon was not the type to apologize for being who he was. If he got mad and killed someone, so be it. He was a vampire, and it came with the territory. He wasn't going to apologize now for trashing his room. He was, however, sorry that he'd frightened Rebecca with his outburst.

He never should've acted that way in front of her, but it was what it was.

Damon was now making it his mission to get Rebecca's necklace spelled. It was obvious that Bonnie wasn't going to be any help, so he called a friend. Someone he'd known about twenty years ago. A witch named Bree; he'd met her when she'd been a freshman in college. He'd been going to college at the time, too.

He'd contacted her a day ago. She lived in Georgia, so she should arrive at any time. Rebecca was semi-excited that she was going to be able to walk in the sun again, but she was also disappointed that Bonnie wasn't going to be the one to help her.

"She's an amateur spell-caster anyway," Damon said. "She might not have been able to do it."

When Bree arrived Damon introduced her to Rebecca.

"The Rebecca?" Bree asked.

"Yup. One and only."

Rebecca took in Bree; the woman was dark skinned with curly black hair. She was tall, about six feet with the help of heels.

"What does she mean? _The_ Rebecca?" Rebecca asked.

"Damon came to me years ago," Bree explained. "Time traveling spell. He wanted one."

"Time traveling into the future to be exact," Damon said.

"Then _he_ broke my heart, crushed my soul, destroyed my life, and ruined any and all chances at happiness," Bree said.

"And yet you came running when he gave you a call?" Rebecca asked, feigning innocence.

Bree shrugged. "About twenty years ago, when I was a sweet young freshman, I met this beautiful man, and I fell in love. And then he told me about his little secret . . . Made me love him even more. 'Cause, see, I had a little secret of my own that I was dying to share with somebody. That I'm a witch." She smiled at Damon. "You changed my world, you know?"

"I _rocked_ your world," Damon countered playfully.

"He is good in the sack, isn't he?"

This little witch had slept with Damon and she expected Rebecca to be okay with talking about it? Rebecca laughed uncomfortably. "Uh, Damon?"

"Let's not take a walk down memory lane," Damon said quickly. "There's a reason why I asked you to come. Rebecca's a vampire and she needs to walk in the sun."

"Yeah, you said." Bree looked at Rebecca now. "Where's your little trinket?"

Rebecca grabbed at the necklace around her throat. She didn't appreciate that comment about Damon being good in the sack, but Bree was willing to help her out, so . . .

"What do I have to do?" she asked. "Do I have to -"

"Just hand it over for a second."

Rebecca looked at Damon, confirming whether or not she could trust this woman. Just because Damon had slept with her didn't mean she was a good person. Speaking of . . . Damon could've warned her that an ex-flame was going to be visiting. When Damon gave her the go-ahead, she took her necklace off and handed it to Bree, who smiled.

"Okay, I have to open a curtain, so be careful," Bree warned.

Rebecca backed out of the parlor and narrowed her eyes at Damon on the way out.

"What?" he asked, following her.

"_He is good in the sack, isn't he?_" she quoted Bree.

"Well, I am,' Damon defended himself. "Besides that was twenty years ago. You weren't even born yet."

"That doesn't make it okay for her to come here and talk about it in front of me."

Rebecca realized that Damon had probably only slept with Bree because he'd wanted something from her, but still . . . it was the principle of the thing. People weren't supposed to bring up stuff like that to people's girlfriends.

"Look, you won't have to put up with her for long; she's only staying for the day."

As they were talking, Damon's phone rang and he looked at the ID screen. "Elena," he said. Why was she calling him?

"What?" he answered.

"Nice, Damon," Elena said. "I tried calling Stefan, but he didn't answer. I'm supposed to help build the Miss Mystic float for the Founder's Day parade. If I don't, I get the wrath of Caroline, but I wanted to check in first."

"Oh. Well, I'm doin' great. Thanks for asking," Damon said. Rebecca shook her head, smiling.

"Check in on Stefan," Elena cleared up, but she sounded amused, too.

"Oh, him? Oh, he's - he's terrible. He's back to boring, straight-laced, off-the-junk. You've successfully cured him of anything that was interesting about his personality."

"Don't forget who helped me," Elena sing-songed.

"I hate myself." Damon grinned but sobered up pretty quickly. "Hey, did Uncle John mention anything to you about my field trip with the history teacher?"

"No, I've still been avoiding him. Why? What's he up to?"

"I don't know, but I'd love if it you could find out for me."

Elena didn't promise anything. "I gotta go. I'm late."

"Have fun with the Mystic Queen. I know I did."

He earned a punch in the arm from Rebecca for that one.

"Ow! Why'd you do that?" he asked as he pressed 'end' on his phone.

"Stop making references to your ex-girlfriends. I'm right here."

Another phone rang; this time it was Rebecca's. The ID screen said _Alaric_.

"Huh. Hello?"

"Rebecca?"

"Yeah?"

"Is Damon around?"

"Yeah, he's right here. Did you want to talk to him?"

"No, he can hear. I saw Isobel last night."

"As in _saw _her saw her or as in you were tripping acid and saw her?"

"No, I saw her. She came up to me at the Grill." Ric sighed. "I'm getting Elena and Stefan when I see them; we're gonna meet in my classroom. Just giving you guys a heads up."

"Thanks. Uh . . . we'll be there shortly."

After hanging up, Rebecca said, "John and Isobel are working together. There's no way it's a coincidence that he showed up about two weeks ago and now here she is."

"Agreed," Damon said.

Poor Elena. What was she going to think when Ric told her what was going on? And what did Isobel want? It couldn't be anything good or Ric wouldn't have bothered calling her.

"Whatever Bree's doing to my necklace, she needs to hurry. I'm going to the school with you."

* * *

When Damon and Rebecca got back into the parlor they say Sarah there holding Chelsea - Sarah loved the little girl. Sarah was watching Bree work her magic; Rebecca was a little suspicious. Bree was just standing there looking at the necklace, which was on the floor in a beam of light coming from a slit in the curtains.

Within seconds, Bree was handing Rebecca back her necklace. "Try it," Bree said.

Once the chain was clasped securely around her neck, Rebecca went to the window and hesitantly let her hand fall into the sunlight that was being filtered in. The warmth hit her skin and was magnified because of her being a vampire, but . . . there was no pain. The spell, whatever Bree had done, had worked.

She let out a small squeal and she saw Damon smile. Her love for him surged forward; he had called Bree here for _her_ - it didn't matter what had happened between him and the witch twenty years ago. And now . . . she could go out during the day.

"Thank you!" she said, talking to both Damon and Bree. She pretty much skipped over to Damon and caught him in a hug; he lifted her up and spun her around once.

That was when she saw Sarah, who was still holding Chelsea, look crestfallen. Rebecca's spirits fell a little. Sarah was probably wondering when _she_ was going to be able to go out in the sun.

"Oh . . ." Rebecca looked at Damon. "We can start looking for a jewelry piece, right? It's not right, leaving her here alone all the time."

"Let's just deal with today first," Damon said. "Now that you can walk in the sun in a nice, non-painful way . . . we should head to the school."

Rebecca nodded and took Chelsea from Sarah, who still looked sad and a little jealous. Rebecca felt for her. She understood now what it felt like being cooped up; she understood it could drive one crazy if one let it.

"We will look, okay. I _promise_. Just let us deal with this first, okay?"

Sarah obviously recognized the honesty in Rebecca's voice because the girl brightened exponentially.

"Good girl. We'll be back when we know what's going on," she said as much for Bree's benefit as for Sarah's. "Keep yourself busy, time will go by quicker."

* * *

When Rebecca and Damon arrived at the school they just went on in. It wasn't actually a school day so they didn't need a visitors pass. They passed the cafeteria where everyone was working on plans for the float. Most of the football team were making banners promoting the team; the history department was working on a float - the theme was a reenactment of the Battle of Willow Creek. That would be easy. Soldiers and Old Fell's church. Matt, Tyler, and Jeremy were stuck working that scene; Bonnie, Caroline and Elena were working on the Miss Mystic float - Elena, however, was currently missing.

_"Okay, let's reference last year's Miss Mystic float._" Rebecca heard Caroline even through the din. _"This is what they did last year, and it's exactly what we don't want to do."_

_"Ew."_ That was Bonnie.

_"Yeah."_

_"Okay. So, what're we doing?"_

_"Southern classic elegance."_

_"Gone With the Wind?"_

_"How'd you know?"_ Caroline asked.

_"You channel Scarlett daily_," Bonnie answered.

_"So true,"_ Caroline chuckled.

Rebecca shook her head, snapping out of it, when Damon touched her arm. She'd been thinking that she wouldn't mind being a part of what they were doing. She had never really helped the town set up for the Founder's Day parade before. In fact she'd never really felt like helping the town do anything. But being on the council - even if it was just to protect Damon, and now herself - made her a little more town-conscious.

"Come on," he said. "They're probably waiting."

When they reached the class room, Chelsea in Rebecca's arms, they walked right in and shut the door behind them.

"Sorry we're late," Damon said. "Dog at my, uh . . ." He took in the unamused expressions of Ric, Elena and Stefan. Though Stefan was hardly ever amused, so . . . "Never mind."

Stefan looked worried; Elena looked shocked. After all the talk of wanting to find her birth mother, the thought of actually being able to meet her was obviously daunting.

"Did you ask about her and Uncle John?" Damon asked. "Are they working together?"

"No." Ric said.

"No, they're not?"

"No, I didn't ask," Ric said.

"What about the invention."

"Didn't ask." Ric seemed indifferent.

Rebecca got it. He'd been searching for his wife for about two years. The invention and whether or not Isobel was working with John probably weren't the first things on his mind.

"Does she know about the tomb vampires?"

"I don't know."

"Did words completely escape you?" Damon asked - more like demanded.

"I don't know. I was a little too distracted by my dead vampire wife to ask any questions!"

"What does she want?" Rebecca asked softly, defusing the situation.

"She wants to see me," Elena said, speaking for the first time. She was seated at a desk, hands clasped together on the top.

"Alaric is supposed to arrange a meeting," Stefan said. "We don't know why or what she wants."

"You don't have to see her if you don't want to," Damon said, looking at Elena.

"I don't really have a choice," Elena said with a small voice.

"What does that mean?" Rebecca asked. "Of course you have a choice."

"She's threatening to go on a killing spree," Ric said softly. "Starting with my history students."

"Oh . . ." Damon said shortly. "I take it that's _not_ okay with you guys."

Rebecca really couldn't tell if he was joking or not so she hit him on this leather clad arm. "Be serious. I won't allow a killing spree in my town!"

"I wanna do it," Elena suddenly said. "If I don't, I know I'll regret it. So . . . set up the meeting."

* * *

Ric had gotten Isobel's number from her the night before, so he knew how to get in touch with her. The meeting was set up for two that afternoon. Damon and Rebecca were going to take Chelsea with them again - this time because they were meeting at the Grill, which had a small picnic area nearby; Chelsea had been kept inside just as much as Rebecca had been. It wasn't healthy.

Ric was obviously going to be there, since it was his ex-wife causing all the problems. Stefan was going to be inside with Elena, just in case Isobel got violent.

"We should be _in_ there," Damon said. He'd been pacing for the past five minutes. Rebecca was expecting him to zoom off any second now.

"No," Ric said. "Isobel made it clear we're not to step foot inside."

"I'm not gonna kill her in a crowded restaurant."

"You're not gonna kill her, period," Ric said firmly.

"She ruined your life and you still wanna protect her?"

"She's my wife," Ric said simply.

Both Damon and Rebecca gave Ric a weird look. Neither one of them understood the loyalty Ric had to his undead wife.

"Was, then," Ric said. "Was my wife. I looked for the woman I married, but she wasn't there. Whoever that is . . . is cold and detached."

"Yeah. She's given up her humanity," Damon explained as if it were obvious.

"See, I don't get that. Stefan has his humanity. He's a good guy. Hell, you're a dick and you kill people, but I still see something human in you. But with her . . . there was - there was nothing."

Up to that point Rebecca had just been listening - sort of - and watching Chelsea. The girl had been running and tripping and playing with leaves; she'd even brought some to Rebecca like they were gifts. But now . . .

"You can turn it off," she told Ric. It might not have been comforting, but it explained why Isobel was the way she was.

"It's like a button you can press," Damon added. "I mean, Stefan's different. He wants the whole human experience. He wants to feel _every_ episode of "How I Met Your Mother" so he shuts his feelings out. The problem is, as a vampire, your instinct is not to feel. Isobel chose the easier road. No guilt, no shame, no regret. I mean, come on, if you could turn it off, wouldn't you?"

"You haven't," Ric said.

"And he won't," Rebecca said." "FYI, the day he flips the switch is the day he will no longer have me as a girlfriend."

She _knew_ how hard it was for Damon to accept that part of himself; he liked to reject the good in himself. But she'd made a promise not to shut her humanity off, so she expected him to repay her in kind.

It wasn't long after that that they saw Isobel coming out of the Grill. Black hair, brown eyes, healthy pink lips. She hardly even glanced their way and Rebecca say the hurt play over Ric's face. Isobel had never deserved Ric anyway, not if she'd had no intention of staying with him, which she obviously hadn't.

Rebecca grabbed Ric's arm and squeezed gently. "I'm sorry."

Ric gave her a small, sad smile, but he seemed appreciative nonetheless. Rebecca didn't know what Ric was feeling. She didn't know how_ she_ would feel if she were in his shoes. To love someone so much that she'd spent the majority of the past two years searching for her only to find that she couldn't care less.

"I'm, uh . . . I'm gonna go," Ric said softly, voice thick with emotion. "Yeah . . ."

Rebecca nodded, understanding. "If you need anything . . ."

He nodded, getting it. "Thanks."

After Ric left, Damon did too. All he'd said was that he had something he needed to take care of. Rebecca figured that meant he was going to threaten or kill Isobel - or maybe both. Rebecca wanted to check on Elena, anyway, so she didn't protest him leaving.

Inside the Grill she bumped into Bonnie, who was just leaving. Bonnie stopped when their skin touched and her head snapped toward Rebecca.

_Oh, God!_ Rebecca thought. Bonnie was a witch; she would be able to feel that Rebecca was no longer human. Why hadn't she thought of that before?

"Becca?" she whispered. "No, you're not . . . you can't be."

"Bonnie . . ." Rebecca didn't know what to say; it didn't much matter because Bonnie turned around and fled without another word.

Refusing to let that get in the way, Rebecca - with Chelsea, of course; she hadn't thought sending Chelsea with Damon when he was on a mission was a good idea - turned to look for Elena. The brunette was by the pool table with Stefan. She was upset, almost crying, and her boyfriend was comforting her.

"Elena . . ." Rebecca reached her as quickly as humanly possible. "What happened? What did she want?"

Elena told the story. Isobel knew Katherine - Katherine had sought her out once Isobel had been turned. Isobel chalked it up to genetic curiosity. Katherine had even helped Isobel get a lapis lazuli necklace so she could walk in the sun.

Rebecca wondered what Katherine had wanted in return for that gift.

Isobel wouldn't tell her who her father was; all Elena got was that he was a 'teenage waste of space'. What Elena _did_ get was that Isobel wanted what John wanted - the Gilbert invention.

"Why? It doesn't even work," Rebecca said. "Or at least not that we can find out. And how does she even know John?"

"She said she spent a lot of time here when she was younger," Elena said. "John had a crush on her for years. He was the first one who told her about vampires."

Elena looked at Rebecca, fresh tears coming to the surface. "You have to help me get the device from Damon. She . . . she threatened to start killing people if I don't get it for her."

"Hm." Rebecca could see that Isobel was going to be a problem for Mystic Falls. "I wish we knew why she wanted it. But I'll talk to Damon."

Unless Damon was off killing Isobel as they spoke; that would take care of the problem.

* * *

Damon hadn't been killing Isobel; he'd been searching for her. He'd taught Isobel how to get around certain rules - like the invitation thing. As long as a human didn't own the house, there was no invite needed.

Isobel was staying at the edge of town, not too far from the boardinghouse, in a big white house. She wasn't there when he arrived so he let himself in. A girl with long brown hair met him at the door. Damon could tell she was heavily compelled; she didn't seem scared that a strange yet hot - if he did say so himself - man had just wandered through the door.

Her name was . . . well, he didn't care to ask, so he didn't know . . . but she poured them some wine and they began playing strip poker. She got down to her bra and panties; he got down to his pants and underwear. "Uh-oh, Cherie. You won again. Hope I'm wearing my good underwear."

That was when Isobel came home. "Tonight's just one blast from the past after another."

Damon put his shirt back on but didn't bother to button it back up, and Isobel told the girl to leave them alone so they could talk.

"It's good to see you, Isobel. Just having fun with your naughty little minion."

"Mm. What would Rebecca think?" Isobel taunted. "How'd you find me?"

"I searched through all the neighborhood bank-owned foreclosures and found the most expensive one."

"Oh, I should've known. You were the one that taught me that."

Damon ran over to Isobel, trapping her against the wall. He remembered Isobel as . . . soft, if not a little selfish. But this wasn't her, wasn't how he remembered her.

"What're you really doing here?" Her eyes were suspicious.

"Well, you caused quite a stir. You blew into town, saw everyone except for the man who made you. I'm a little hurt."

"I'm so sorry," Isobel said sarcastically. She wrapped him in a mockingly maternal embrace but then dragged his head back by gripping his hair tightly. "Did you bring the device?"

She let him go and sauntered past him. He looked at her anew. Yes, Rebecca had talked to him about the stupid device, but he wasn't giving it to anyone until he found out what it was.

"What are you doing with John Gilbert?"

"We dated a few times when we were young. He was a little bit in love with me."

"I'm sure. One of the many. Now, this little invention . . . what do you want with it?"

"Oh, me personally? I don't want anything with it, I'm just doing what I'm told."

"Well, who's giving the orders?"

"Katherine," she said coyly. "She wants John Gilbert to have the device. And I think that you know that she's not happy when she doesn't get what she wants."

"Why're you doing her dirty work?"

"Don't kill the messenger. We both know that you can't control Katherine." Isobel shrugged. "She does what she wants."

"Pfft. So do I," Damon said, moving forward.

"Oh, really, Damon? You do?"

Isobel tried to hit him but he caught her arm easily and yanked her forward. There were maybe two inches between his body and hers. Isobel was breathless.

"What should we do now?" Her mouth slid over his and Damon forced himself not to recoil; he had a reason for doing this, he reminded himself. "Oh, yeah, memory serves."

She shoved him onto the couch and straddled him, and when Damon sensed her guard go down he shoved her onto the floor and wrapped a hand around her throat.

"Now that I have your attention, listen up. You do _not_ come into my town and threaten the people I care about. You leave them alone of I'll rip you to bits because I do believe in killing the messenger. You know why?" Damon leaned close and whispered in her ear. "Because it sends a message."

Damon knew Isobel was getting everything loud and clear, but to make sure, he lifted her head to jostle her a bit and shoved her back down. She cried out a little in shock.

"If Katherine wants something from me, you tell that little _bitch_ to come get it herself."

* * *

On the way to the boardinghouse, Damon thought back to what Isobel had told him. From the Watcher's journals, Rebecca had found out that Katherine hadn't had a child. Obviously . . . obviously, the journals were wrong or Elena wouldn't have been born. Elena was Isobel's daughter, which meant Isobel was related to Katherine in some way.

Isobel had grown up near Mystic Falls and had met John and had ended up giving birth under the care of John's brother. Damon was sure that wasn't a coincidence; he entertained the notion that John was Elena's biological father. It stood to reason that that was the reason John and Isobel were still working together.

When he got home Elena and Rebecca were on the porch with Stefan. Chelsea was playing in the front yard. Rebecca didn't look too happy being there with Stefan, and she probably wouldn't have been had Elena not been there. She was there because of what Elena had been through that day.

When he reached Rebecca, he grabbed her hand and leaned in close to whisper, "Come with me for a minute."

Rebecca nodded. "Okay. Uh, Elena . . . watch Chelsea?"

"Sure."

When Rebecca and Damon got upstairs she hugged him a little but then stepped away from him. "Why do you smell like . . . perfume? And cheap perfume at that."

"Isobel," Damon answered, treading lightly. "I went to get some information from her."

"And did you?"

Damon told her everything he'd found out, glossing over the small make out session he'd allowed Isobel to get away with.

"Is she still alive?"

"I didn't kill her, I just . . . delivered a message."

"Oh . . . Okay. Um . . . do you need me to stay here tonight? I was gonna go with Elena, help her deal."

"I need you here every night," Damon said, grinning. "But I'll survive if you _must_ leave."

Damon was being purposefully over-dramatic.; he even put his hand over his heart as if he were in pain. Rebecca giggled.

"You can be such a goofball sometimes." She kissed him briefly. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Rebecca got her stuff together and asked Damon if he wanted to watch Chelsea or if he wanted her to take Chelsea with her.

"You take her; I have something I have to do."

"What do you have to do?"

Damon shook his head. "I'll tell you tomorrow."

Rebecca agreed easily and went about getting everything else together that she would need for the night. She was kind of dreading spending the night with Elena because - well . . . all Elena was going to do was cry about how much of a disappointment Isobel was. But . . . Elena needed someone that wasn't Stefan; she needed a girl.

Bonnie was having her own problems that she needed to deal with; Caroline was oblivious about everything - she didn't even know yet that Elena was adopted; Jenna was in the dark about Isobel - no one could tell her about Isobel without telling her about vampires because as far as Jena was concerned Isobel had been killed.

So that left Rebecca. She could be a shoulder to cry on for one night. She just hoped Elena wouldn't be too weepy; Rebecca could only put up with so much.

* * *

Unknown to Rebecca, Damon was also being a shoulder to cry on - metaphorically speaking anyway. He'd gone to the Grill because he'd known Ric would be there. After Isobel coming back into his life, Ric probably needed more than a few drinks. So when he saw the teacher at the bar it didn't surprise him.

He sauntered over and plopped down on a stool, beside Ric.

"Did you know Isobel used to date John?" Damon didn't give Ric time to answer. "Yup. And now here they are working together. Don't you think that's odd?"

"That they're working together of that she dated that idiot?"

"That they're working together, obviously." Damon pretended to be thinking. "Now, what could be their common interest in this, hm?"

Even though Ric reeked of alcohol he still made the connection.

"Elena."

* * *

Okay, so . . . I know the show couldn't put a lot of scenes in about Damon and Ric, but I LOVE their friendship. I wish the show would have built it up more, shown Damon and Ric being there for each other like friends are supposed to be, but the show didn't because it's not about a friendship between two guys, it's about a love triangle between a teenage girl and two vampires. But, this is my story and I'm fleshing out the start of their friendship and I hope you guys don't mind. I love writing Ric and Damon scenes. Their friendship was fun - sort of, from an outsider's perspective, anyway.


	55. Chapter 50

It has come to my attention that chapter 48 actually reads Chapter Fifty-Eight. I didn't skip anything, I promise, I just for some reason typed that and didn't catch it when I was proofreading. LOL. My bad. But I don't feel like going back and changing it, so just pretend that it says Forty-Eight.

Chapter Fifty

Rebecca was hungry. She hadn't eaten since the night before and it was now noon the next day. She had listened to Elena complain and had comforted her when she'd cried and then Elena had been more worried about the device that Isobel wanted - that John wanted.

She'd hung out with Jeremy for a while and then they'd all gone to bed. Rebecca had been fine after she'd woken up, but now she was starving, and she was in a house full of humans. She knew she could call Damon and he'd come get her, but she was trying to see how much control she had.

Besides, she didn't have much longer to wait. Elena was supposed to be going to the school to help with the Miss Mystic float; the brunette could take her home then.

Before they could leave, however, Bonnie came over.

"Hi," Elena said.

"Hey," the witch said. Bonnie looked at Rebecca sadly but didn't say anything to her. "I couldn't sleep last night. You were obviously upset about something, and I - I just walked away. That's not me. That can't be us. You're my friend, Elena. If you need me, I'm here for you. And I'm sorry I couldn't show you that yesterday."

"I met my birth mother," Elena explained.

"Oh," Bonnie said after a brief pause. "Was it . . . Are you okay?"

Elena shrugged and Bonnie embraced her. Rebecca clenched her jaw. She had the strong urge to bite Bonnie. Bonnie was ignoring Rebecca because she was a vampire now, and she was reconciling with Elena right in front of her.

"Well, since I'm obviously not included in your little sisterly love affair, I'm gonna go," Rebecca said snidely, reminding herself of the older, more obnoxious, Caroline Forbes.

Rebecca had asked Jenna to watch Chelsea for the day because Rebecca planned on going to the school later to help with the float too. She wasn't much into the Miss Mystic thing, but she did want to be around her friends. Now she wasn't even sure she should be going at all.

She was on edge, which meant she could become dangerous in an instant.

"Good-bye, Elena." She didn't say anything to Bonnie. Bonnie was ignoring her, so Rebecca returned the favor.

* * *

When Rebecca got to the boardinghouse she raced upstairs where she heard Damon's heartbeat. He was still in bed. That was odd; he wasn't usually a late sleeper.

It didn't matter; she laid beside him anyway, and placed her head on his chest. The rhythm of his heart and breathing changed, so she knew she'd woken him up.

"Tell me you love me," she said, her eyes filling with tears.

"You know I love you," he said softly. "What happened?"

Damon was not used to Rebecca being an insecure mess. He didn't like it and he wanted to kill whoever made her that way.

"I was with Elena, and Bonnie came over. I . . . wasn't wanted. I was standing _right there_ and she wouldn't even talk to me. She apologized to Elena right in front of me and she barely even acknowledged my presence."

Damon sighed. He so wasn't good at this comforting thing.

"I wish I could tell you that you guys will work it out, but the truth is that some people just can't be friends forever. People change, they drift apart. It doesn't mean she wasn't a good friend for you before, it just means she's not a good friend for you now."

He heard her sniffle a bit and he began rubbing her back.

"I'm not such a good friend for her either. I wanted to . . . hurt her," Rebecca admitted. "I was very tempted to bite her for being such a bitch."

"Well." Damon cursed his bluntness, "You're a vampire. Wanting to rip people's throats out is part of your nature now. And you're doing . . . pretty well. You left; you didn't do it."

"No, but I wanted to. She just made me so angry."

Rebecca grew silent after that and she just let herself enjoy being with someone who wanted her, who always wanted her, no matter what. She got up when Damon did and he went to the cellar to get some blood for them both.

"Here," he tossed her a bag of A Positive. "Drink up. You'll feel better."

"Yeah."

She put the tube - a makeshift straw - in the blood bag and started sucking the liquid down.

"You know, you're new. You shouldn't go so long without feeding."

"I know, but the only humans I was around were Elena, Jenna, and Jeremy. I wasn't going to drink from them, and Chelsea is off limits forever, so I didn't have much of a choice."

Once Rebecca was done drinking she said, "So . . . what did you and _Bree_ do last night?" She hadn't forgotten what Bree had said the day before about sleeping with Damon.

"Wasn't here," Damon said, shrugging. "She was gone by the time I got back."

"Oh . . ." Rebecca stood up; she _did_ feel better now that her stomach was full. "Well, I'm gonna go brush my teeth and then I'm gonna head to the school. Help out."

* * *

The first person Rebecca met with at the school was Matt. He was helping Caroline put streamers around the float that Caroline would be standing on, along with the other contestants from the pageant.

"Hey, guys!" she said. "Look who decided to come out of hibernation."

Caroline's head snapped up and she threw Rebecca a big smile. The blonde ran over and gave her a hug. It was exactly what Rebecca needed after the rejection she'd gotten from Bonnie.

"Hey, I've missed you! You missed my shining moment."

"Yeah, Damon told me you won. Congratulations."

"Thanks," Caroline gushed. "Damon said you haven't been feeling great lately. Since . . . Well, since you were kidnapped. Um . . . you're better, I take it, since you're here?"

"Well, uh -"

Rebecca was interrupted by Tyler coming over and beginning to talk to Matt.

"So Carline tells me you've been on your own the past two weeks. Is everything okay?" Tyler asked.

"You're asking me about my mom? Seriously?"

The last Rebecca had heard was that Tyler had been caught making out with Matt's mom; from Tyler's question, Rebecca assumed that Kelly was gone again.

"Why don't I just have her call you when she blows back through town?"

"Dude, that's not what I meant, okay? I'm just trying to . . ." Tyler trailed off.

"Apologize?" Rebecca offered.

"What she said," Tyler said. "I don't know what to say."

"Good," Matt said. "Don't say anything, because you're a dick, end of story."

"I know."

Matt turned and walked away and then Tyler did the same. Rebecca was left standing there with Caroline.

"Kelly's gone?" Rebecca asked her blonde friend.

"Matt kicked her out the night of the kickoff party."

"Can't say I blame him," Rebecca said.

Rebecca felt the phone vibrate in her pocket and she took it out. There was a text.

_Science room meeting. ASAP - Elena_

Oh, what did Elena want now?

"Hey, I'll be right back. There's something I have to do."

* * *

Once in the science room, Rebecca rolled her eyes. Elena had called Rebecca because Bonnie had called Elena and now the brunette was trying to . . . Well, Rebecca wasn't sure what Elena was up to, but she was definitely up to something.

"Come on, you guys . . . talk. I hate that you're fighting."

"We're not fighting," Rebecca said. "That would involve contact of some kind. Bonnie's ignoring me."

"Thanks for meeting me, Elena. I wanted you to see this," Bonnie said.

"Is that Emily's spell book?"

Bonnie was standing at a long black lab table, and on that table was the thick grimoire Elena and Stefan had dug up a while back.

"I've been going through it since Grams died." Bonnie looked at Elena and then at Rebecca. "Check this out."

Rebecca and Elena stepped closer. The book was open to a page with a picture on it.

"That's the vampire compass," Elena said. "Why's it in Emily's spell book?"

"According to Emily's spell book, Jonathan Gilbert never actually succeeded in inventing anything. Emily secretly spelled them all with magic. Compass. Rings. The mystery device you told me about."

"Wait," Rebecca said. "You know everything now?"

Bonnie nodded. "Elena explained what happened with Stefan. I'm sorry. And I can . . . I can be friends with you as long as you're still _you_."

"I am . . . I haven't hurt anyone. I don't fresh feed."

"Guys . . . this device . . ." Elena said, breaking through the touching reconciliation moment. "There's more than one piece that goes to the device that Damon has."

"If John and Isobel want it then that means they must have everything else they need to use it," Rebecca deduced, "or intend on finding them."

"Emily pledged her loyalty to Katherine," Bonnie said softly. "But she couldn't stand by and watch innocent people get killed. This was the only way she could think of to help . . . to let Jonathan Gilbert believe he'd actually invented these devices."

"Does it say what it does?" Elena asked, leaning over the book.

Rebecca didn't bother looking. The book was in a completely different language. But Bonnie could read it.

A few seconds later Bonnie looked at Elena. "Are you sure this is what Isobel wants? Because this is a weapon. Against vampires." Bonnie looked Rebecca's way and Rebecca could see the concern there; the witch still cared. Rebecca felt a small weight lift from her shoulders. If Bonnie still cared, there was still hope for their friendship.

"Why would Isobel want a weapon to use against vampires?" Elena asked.

It clicked. The tomb vampires. John had said that was why he was back and Rebecca hadn't believed him. Then John had said that he and Isobel shared a common goal - now Rebecca knew what that goal was.

Getting rid of the vampires in Mystic Falls. Problem was, Rebecca was one - and Damon and Stefan. Rebecca could understand John wanting to get rid of the vampires - Mystic Falls was his home. But what did Isobel have to do with anything? And since Isobel was working for Katherine, what did Katherine have to do with it? What could Katherine gain by getting rid of the tomb vampires?

Well, they all hated her and they would be considered enemies - Rebecca guessed that was enough of a reason for Katherine.

"I have to call Damon," Rebecca muttered.

"I have to find Stefan," Elena said.

"Well, wait and I'll help you."

* * *

Damon had been on his way to a council meeting when Rebecca called.

"Yes?" he said sweetly, drawing out the word.

"The device Pearl gave you is a weapon against vampires," Rebecca's voice came over the line. "It doesn't work because you only have part of it."

Damon came to the same conclusion Rebecca had. If John wanted the mystery device, he probably had whatever it took to make it work. Now Damon definitely wasn't giving it to anyone.

"How'd you learn this?"

"Bonnie . . ."

When Damon got the whole explanation about how the compass and the rings and the device weren't really inventions but only objects that had been spelled by Emily, he wondered if the device could be destroyed naturally or if a witch had to do it.

"Hey, see if Judgy knows how to destroy the device or take the spell off of it."

"Who?"

"Bonnie."

"Oh, okay." Rebecca sighed softly but didn't say anything else.

Damon could feel the hesitation coming through the phone line so he said, "What?"

"Um . . . this may be the obvious question, but . . . what do we do now? I mean . . . Katherine is calling the shot from far away, if Isobel is to be believed."

"She's not," Damon said. "She's smart. It's a story she made up."

"But if it's not?"

Damon shrugged even though Rebecca couldn't see. "Then we'll deal with it."

* * *

After Rebecca got done talking to Damon, she and Elena went in search of Stefan. Elena had texted him and he'd said he was helping with the float, so that was where the girls were headed.

Jeremy stopped them along the way.

"Do you have a second?" he asked Elena. "It's Anna. I've left her all these messages and she hasn't gotten back to me. Not even a text."

"Anna? I didn't know that you guys were still friends," Elena said carefully.

"We're more than friends. And something could be seriously wrong here, so if you know anything, you've got to tell me."

"I haven't talked to her, Jer," Elena replied.

Jeremy looked at his sister suspiciously. "Are you lying to me right now? Because that's what you do, Elena. You lie. You lie about everything." Jeremy leaned closer so he could lower his voice. "I know what Anna is, and I know that you know. So tell me, do you have any idea where she is?

Elena looked like she'd been stricken dumb for the moment, and Jeremy looked crestfallen because his sister wasn't going to help.

"I know where she lives, Jer," Rebecca said. "I'll help you look for her, but I have to take care of something first."

Jeremy nodded. "Thank you, _Becca_." Jeremy glared at Elena like he thought she should've been the one to help him. Then he walked away without looking back.

"Becca! Why? He's -"

"He likes her, Elena. And before you get all hysterical, remember who _you're_ dating."

Rebecca started to go toward the float where Stefan was supposed to be, when her Slayer alert went off. It was harder to do now that she was a vampire herself, but she could still do it.

"Isobel," she heard Elena say. "What're you doing here?"

"I'm your mother, Elena. I wanna be more involved in your life."

Rebecca looked toward Elena and saw Isobel. She was wearing a smart dark outfit and had a brown leather jacket on.

"I don't want you in my life," Elena said.

"I understand that. You already have a lot of people that you care about, but I've been studying. Let's see if I got this right."

Isobel looked over toward the school parking lot. Bonnie was walking past the car and toward one of the work zones for the parade.

"There's the witchy best friend, Bonnie. Gonna stay away from that one."

She looked toward a red pickup truck that had a float attached to the back of it. Jeremy was standing close by, phone held to his ear.

"The sad little brother, Jeremy."

The woman looked toward the float now, where Caroline was completely in her element, decorating and bossing people around. The blond smiled and waved when she saw Elena and Rebecca looking her way.

"There's Caroline. Obnoxious Caroline. I got all of my info from her, by the way. She had no idea who I was and she wouldn't stop yapping." Then Isobel moved on to the next person. "There's Matt. Friend, ex, Yappy's future ex. Lots of connections there."

"Matt's not involved in this," Elena said.

"He's involved with you, isn't he?"

"Look, you shouldn't be here. You need to leave."

"No. I have some friends here, too. Look. See that man over there, standing next to Matt by the float. His name's Frank. He's very handsome."

Rebecca looked and saw a cowboy type person standing where Isobel pointed. He even had the huge belt buckle to complete the outfit.

"And he's also quite handy. And he noticed that the axle is kind of rusted, which is very dangerous. So all you have to do is apply a little pressure and -"

"No!" Elena screamed.

But it was too late. The cowboy had jumped onto the foundation of the float and it came down on Matt's arm, crushing it. Matt's screams filled the area and four or five members of the football team tried to lift the trailer off of him. Tyler stepped in and so did Stefan; with Stefan helping, the job was easy.

Rebecca had rushed over as fast as she could have without drawing suspicion.

"Caroline, call an ambulance," Stefan said.

The blond had made it there as quickly as she could have, too. Caroline did as she was told.

_"Why are you doing this?"_ Elena asked. Rebecca was still listening in; she found it easy to block out everything but what she needed to hear - especially now when she _needed _it.

_"Because I'm showing you how easy it is to hurt the people you care about."_

_"You're doing this just because of Jonathan Gilbert's invention?"_

_"Hand it over and the fun will stop."_

_"I told you Damon's not going to give it to me!" _Elena said desperately.

_"And I think you underestimate how much Damon cares about this town and the people in it."_

There was a pause and then Elena said, _"He'll kill you before he gives it up."_

_"Is that before or after I kill your brother Jeremy."_

Rebecca could tell Stefan had been listening to because his head snapped up at that. Rebecca looked toward the red truck Jeremy had been near and he was no longer there. Then when she looked back at Elena, Isobel wasn't there anymore either.

Isobel had taken Jeremy!

"The ambulance is saying 15 to 20 minutes!" Caroline said anxiously, coming back to squat by Matt's side.

"I can take him," Tyler offered. "I have my car, I can take him to the hospital."

"Caroline can take me!" Matt said, not wanting to accept help from Tyler.

"Well, I didn't drive."

"Then I'll wait. It's fine."

"You will not wait!" Caroline said. "Okay, you need to see a doctor. Tyler's driving. End of story."

"Fine," Matt said begrudgingly.

"Go!" Caroline ordered Tyler.

"I'll bring my car around."

Now that that was settled, Rebecca let herself worry about Jeremy. Isobel couldn't kill Jeremy; she would no longer have any leverage, so . . . now she just needed to talk to Damon. They needed a plan to get Jeremy back.

* * *

Stefan, Elena, and Rebecca had gone to the history classroom and were waiting for Ric and Bonnie to show up. Rebecca told them what she thought: that Isobel wouldn't hurt Jeremy. She wanted something from them.

"We have power over her," Rebecca said.

When Ric and Bonnie got there Elena explained what had happened, pacing the length of the classroom the whole time.

"Where _is_ the device now?" Bonnie asked.

"Damon has it," Stefan said. "He's gonna be difficult to reason with."

"Then we'll go to him," Elena said. "I'll talk to him."

"Or," Rebecca said. "We could just go get Jeremy right now. Damon knows where Isobel's staying."

"And Damon's not just going to hand the device over," Stefan said. "Especially if it's harmful to vampires."

Elena looked at Bonnie. "What if it's not?"

Stefan shook his head, not understanding, and Bonnie looked down at the desk she was sitting in.

"Can you do it?" Ric asked, speaking for the first time.

"If it's in the grimoire."

Rebecca figured now was not the time to talk about Damon wanting to destroy the device. Unless they could get Jeremy another way, they couldn't destroy the device.

Ric couldn't leave because he was helping supervise the parade setup, but Bonnie, Rebecca, Stefan, and Elena decided to go to the boardinghouse. Rebecca texted Damon telling him to head back home as fast as he could.

When they got to the house, Rebecca called for Sarah. This affected her, too, the device business. Damon showed up shortly after they had, and both Sarah and Damon were quickly filled in.

"Absolutely _not_," Damon said. He couldn't believe they wanted him to give the device over. Even if it was for a good reason.

"Just hear us out," Elena said.

"I'm not gonna give the device to Isobel so she can give it to John, who's gonna turn around and kill me. I like being a living dead person."

"But it'll be useless. Bonnie can take its power away."

"I don't trust _her_," Damon said sharply.

"I can remove the original spell," Bonnie claimed, pulling out the grimoire from her shoulder bag.

"John and Isobel will never know," Elena said, looking at Damon pleadingly.

"No. No, I'll get Jeremy my own way."

"Uh, I already mentioned this plan," Rebecca said. "And we would've had Jeremy back by now if they had let me do it."

"How?" Stefan said. "Hm? Because Isobel is a vampire, and Jeremy could be dead the second you walk in the door."

"Why are you even a part of this conversation?" Rebecca asked sharply. "Besides being Elena's lapdog what exactly are you contributing?"

"Hey!" Elena said, glaring at Rebecca. "That's uncalled for."

"No, actually, all he ever does is what _you_ want him to do, Elena. I'm pretty sure if it wasn't for you, he'd agree that Damon and I could get the job done. We'd have Jeremy and the device."

"Well . . . this is going in an interesting direction," Damon mused.

Elena looked at her boyfriend. "Stefan? Do you agree with them?"

Stefan didn't say anything, which was answer enough. So Damon looked at Bonnie, who was sitting there, quiet, and looking innocent.

"Are you sure you're up for this? I mean, no offense, but you're no Emily Bennett. Emily knew what she was doing."

"I've been practicing."

"It's not piano lessons, honey."

Bonnie stood up and faced him. "What's your favorite book?"

"What?" Damon had to admit the witch threw him with that.

"Name a book," Bonnie shrugged. "Any book."

"Name a book." Damon decided he'd play. "How about _Call of the Wild_, Jack London?"

Bonnie turned toward the bookcase, concentrated, and within seconds a book was flying toward Damon, who caught it with ease.

He looked at the title. "_Call of the Wild_, Jack London. Great parlor trick." He threw the book to the side.

"Well, I was impressed," Rebecca said.

"We're doing this, Damon," Elena said. "And we're gonna do it my way. Now give me the device. We're wasting time."

"I don't trust her," Damon said again.

"But you can trust _me_," Elena said.

Rebecca saw the suspicion fade away from Damon's eyes and the vulnerability creep into them. She could tell Damon really didn't know whether he could trust Elena or not, but when he took the device out of his pocket and put it in Elena's outstretched hand Rebecca also knew that Damon was choosing to let himself trust her.

"Thank you," Elena whispered.

"Whatever. What do we do now?" Damon asked, looking at Bonnie.

"Now I need some candles." Bonnie laid her grimoire on the coffee table in front of the fireplace. "I can undo the spell."

Stefan went to gather the things Bonnie would need, leaving Bonnie, Elena, and Rebecca with Damon, who left the room. Rebecca followed Damon because she knew Damon was probably feeling a bit anxious about what they were doing. He really didn't trust Bonnie, it seemed, and Rebecca knew it was because of how Bonnie had been treating _her_. Damon didn't like disloyalty, and the way Bonnie had been treating her had been a betrayal in Damon's eyes. It had been in Rebecca's eyes, too, now that she thought about it.

"Damon?" He was by the stairs. "Everything's gonna be okay." She stepped closer and hugged him. He was tense and didn't return the gesture. "But if it isn't . . . where does Isobel live?"

Damon gave her a suspicious look, and she nodded. If he thought Isobel needed taking care of then she understood completely. Isobel was causing problems.

"I'm _always_ gonna be on your side, Damon," she whispered. "I get it. Now where does she live?"

Damon looked toward the parlor and then put a finger to his lips; Stefan could hear, if he was listening.

"Later," he whispered. "Before we leave."

She nodded, and he tilted her head up by her chin and gently pressed their lips together. It was a _thank you_ for being so loyal and understanding.

* * *

Once Stefan had gathered everything Bonnie needed to do the spell, Rebecca and Damon went back into the parlor. Bonnie was in front of the fireplace with her spell book placed on a table in front of her. The Gilbert device was open and Bonnie was messing with a small round piece that had come out of it.

She put the round piece on the table and lit the candles that Stefan had brought her.

"Why do you need the candles?" Rebecca asked.

"I can channel energy from the flames. And they're white because white means positive energy," the witch answered.

Damon was silent. Rebecca knew he didn't agree with what was happening. When Elena looked at him . . . he rolled his eyes.

Bonnie placed her hands over the piece and closed her eyes. The piece - whatever it was - began to float and spin around slowly. Everyone - even Damon - was watching and waiting for something to happen. All was silent, and Rebecca was anxious because . . . what if Bonnie couldn't do this? Bonnie's Grams had died by taking too much on at once.

Then the lights began flickering in and out and Rebecca looked up. It was like someone was at the light switch turning it off and on.

Rebecca and Damon were on one side of the room and Stefan and Elena were on the other. Bonnie was the invisible line between them. Sarah was with Rebecca and Damon because she was closer to them.

Suddenly the fireplace lit up with flames and Rebecca stepped closer to Damon. She had been near the fireplace; she'd even felt the heat from the fire. Then the candles' flames shot up and Bonnie let out a small gasp. When Bonnie opened her eyes again everything went back to normal.

No flickering light, no fire rising. The flames from the candles went down to their regular height.

"Done," Bonnie said.

Elena stepped forward and Bonnie handed the device to the brunette.

"Great. Now what?" Damon said.

"Now, we give it to Isobel," Elena said. "Tell Ric to set up a meeting."

While Stefan and Elena were taking care of the meeting with Isobel, Damon and Rebecca went outside to plan. Damon told her where Isobel lived and, since Damon was going to be there with Stefan and Elena whenever the meeting was set up for, Rebecca would go and wait for her at her place. Isobel had hurt some of the people she cared about, so Isobel needed to be taught a lesson.

* * *

Elena thought it was best for Ric to stay as far away from Isobel as possible so, when Ric called to tell them that Isobel wanted to meet in the town square to make the exchange, Elena asked him to stay out of it.

Ric hadn't really fought over it.

Before Stefan, Damon, and Elena left, Damon gave Rebecca a slight nod. They had their plan going and they were going to go ahead with it. So as soon as everyone was ready, Stefan, Damon, and Elena went one way and Rebecca went another.

When the three got to the town square, Isobel was already there waiting. Damon and Stefan stayed back so Isobel wouldn't see them.

The bell on the tower of the church tolled; it was nine o'clock.

"Where's the device," Isobel said.

Damon and Stefan were close enough to hear - safety measure, in case Elena got in trouble.

"Where's my brother?" Elena countered.

"This isn't a negotiation. Where's the invention?"

"Where's my brother?" Elena asked again, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Do you really think I came alone?" Isobel asked.

The cowboy and the girl Damon had played poker with showed up behind Elena - they were human, so they wouldn't be much of a problem.

"Do you really think that _I_ came alone?" Elena shot back.

Damon and Stefan walked toward Isobel, who turned and nodded, a small smile on her face.

"For God's sake, call home," she said, turning back to face her daughter. "Call home. Ask to speak to your brother Jeremy."

Elena did as Isobel asked. Jeremy was fine.

"You were never gonna hurt him," Elena said after she hung up with Jeremy.

"No," Isobel answered. "I was gonna kill him." Isobel shook her head. "Don't look for any redeeming qualities in me. I don't have any."

Isobel held out her hand and waited expectantly; Elena glared, but stepped forward, anyway, handing the device over.

"Thank you," the brunette said. "For being such a monumental disappointment. It keeps the memory of my real mother perfectly intact."

Isobel wasn't fazed. "Good-bye, Elena."

Isobel slowly walked away and Stefan went toward Elena, who looked about ready to cry. Since it looked like Stefan and Elena had a long night of comforting ahead of them, Damon decided to leave them to it.

When he was out of earshot, Damon sent Rebecca a text.

_She just left. I'm headed your way - D_

_Got it_, was the text he got back.

* * *

Isobel got back to her place before Damon did. Rebecca was waiting just inside, and she slammed the older woman into the door as soon as it was closed.

"Hi, we haven't officially met. I'm Rebecca, Vampire Slayer. You forgot to mention me when you were listing Elena's friends. You seemed afraid of Bonnie, but you should've been more scared of me." Rebecca shrugged. "I like the place, by the way."

Rebecca grabbed Isobel's arm and twisted until she heard a snap. She knew if she let go the bone would just reset, so she didn't let go. Isobel could be in pain for a while. It really made no difference to her.

"That's for Matt. He plays football; he kind of needs his arm."

Isobel's knees had given out when Rebecca had broken her arm, but the woman was trying to stand up again. Rebecca casually punched her.

"That was for Jeremy. He's like a brother to me, you know."

Then she slapped Isobel, making Isobel's head snap to the side. "And that's for Ric. He spent the last two years searching for you, you know that?"

Rebecca had let go of Isobel so she could hit her and now the arm was resetting itself. Rebecca took a step back from the woman and even let her stand up. Isobel eyed her warily.

"You not gonna kill me?" she asked.

"If I were going to kill you, you'd be dead already. I came here to see if Jeremy was here, but he's not. He has been, though, because his scent is all over the place."

"He's safe at home, and I'm leaving."

"You've got the device."

Isobel smirked. "I didn't keep it for long."

"Which means John has it," Damon said, appearing out of nowhere.

Isobel shrugged.

"If you really are leaving, let me ask you something," Rebecca said. "Why? Why would you become a vampire? You had a daughter who you cared enough about to give up so she'd have a loving family. You had a career. And you had Ric. He is a good guy and he loved you. How could you do that to him?"

"I wanted this," Isobel said. "I needed this." There was a brief pause and then Isobel's mask slipped. "And I'm gonna regret it forever."

Isobel's feelings weren't quite as turned off as Rebecca and Damon had thought.

"Ric thinks it was something _he_ did. That he wasn't enough for you."

"This was my mistake. Not his. I loved him. I did. And when I think about what I gave up, it hurts."

"You didn't have to leave him," Damon said. "You could've stayed with him."

"What, and turned him? I don't think so."

"Hm. You were saying something about leaving?" Rebecca reminded her. "I want you gone tonight."

* * *

After Damon and Rebecca left Isobel's temporary residence, Damon went back to the boardinghouse. Rebecca told him she was going to go check on Jeremy, but she wouldn't take long.

Damon went to pour himself a drink as soon as he got in. Stefan, having obviously heard him come in, came into the parlor.

"Would you like one?" Damon asked. Stefan didn't answer. "Say it, whatever it is. Purge. Get it out."

"Where's Rebecca?"

"None of you business," Damon said sharply. Rebecca wasn't a topic of discussion between them, not since Stefan had killed her. "And that wasn't what you wanted to ask."

"Okay. Is Isobel still alive? I know what you and Rebecca had planned, so . . . I know that you and Elena have bonded. And I know that she cares about you and I know you care about her. I'm just concerned about Elena getting hurt. She considers you a friend."

"Same here. Elena is a very good friend. Is that a problem?" Damon smirked. "Oh, and as her friend, I wasn't looking forward to telling her the truth anyway. So I'll let you do it."

"What truth?"

"About John. Because, you see, I know you guys don't like to keep secrets from each other."

Stefan crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. "What're you talking about?"

"Am I the only one around here who has the ability to put two and two together? Isobel. Hello."

Stefan shrugged.

"She dated John when she was younger. She gets pregnant and ends up at the doctor's office of John's brother. Now, what d'you think John's role is in all of this? Hm? I mean, go ahead, think about it. I'll wait. Did you get it? Are you there yet? Hm?"

"So you think that John is . . . Elena's father?"

"Ding-ding-ding-ding!"

"And what proof do you have?"

"I don't need proof. That's a DNA test for John and Elena and Maury Povich to deal with. But I know how well you deal with these big bombshells, so . . ." Damon turned to leave with his drink in his hand, but when he reached the stairs he turned back around. "Oh, and when you do tell Elena . . . and she needs a friend to talk to about _anything_ . . . I'm here for her."

* * *

Rebecca had gone to Jeremy's house to check on him _and_ to fulfill her promise. She was going to help him find Anna. She'd been about to go in through Jeremy's window when she heard Jeremy begin to speak.

_"Yeah! Because I'm pretty sure that your journal covered it."_

_"You read my journal?"_

Rebecca had gotten there just in time to hear a fight from the middle. She wasn't sure how it had started, but she was fairly certain she knew how it was going to end.

Jeremy admitted about reading what Elena had written about Damon erasing his memory.

_"Jeremy, please, you don't understand. The night that Vicki died, it was like Mom and Dad died all over again. It was all over your face. And it hurt so much to see you like that. I just wanted to take away the pain. I'm so sorry, I -"_

_"Just get_ out," Jeremy said. _"Please."_

_"Jer, I -"_

Rebecca heard a door slam, so she assumed that meant Elena was no longer in the room. Rebecca made sure no one was looking before she jumped up to his window and opened it. She was going to have to talk to Jeremy about leaving it unlocked; she'd easily gotten in.

He jumped a little when she appeared out of nowhere.

"Hey," she said softly. "Did you get in touch with Anna?"

"No . . . I -"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Isobel didn't hurt me."

"Good. Now go get dressed, we're gonna go check out where Anna lives."

That had been the plan, anyway, but . . . as soon as they were getting ready to leave, Anna showed up. She was visibly upset.

"Anna, hey. What're you doin' here?" Jeremy asked softly. "Why didn't you call me back?"

"My mother. She's dead. She was killed."

"What?"

"Oh, my God, Anna!" Jeremy instinctively stepped toward the girl and hugged her. "I'm so sorry."

Rebecca watched tears fall from Anna's eyes, and she was reminded of when _her_ mother had died.

"I know I'm not supposed to be here, but I don't have anywhere else to go," Anna said, sobbing.

Rebecca felt sorry for Anna, but it was Jeremy that Anna needed right then, so Rebecca slipped away silently. She had her own boyfriend that was waiting for her.

She had to get Chelsea from Jenna, but she couldn't have just gone downstairs because nobody had seen her come in aside from Jeremy. She stopped at the front door and knocked. John was the one who opened the door for her.

_Oh, great,_ she mused. She'd forgotten about him staying with Elena and Jenna and Jeremy. She hoped he hadn't messed with Chelsea; Rebecca didn't want Chelsea getting close to anyone like John.

Needless to say, she didn't stay long.

* * *

Okay, so here's how the Isobel thing turned out. I so wanted to kill her off, but alas, I still need her in the second season, so . . . yeah.


	56. Chapter 51

Chapter Fifty-One

The next day Rebecca told Damon about Anna and Pearl, and they came to the conclusion that John had been the one to kill her. As far as they knew, no one else had known about Pearl being a vampire. Not the rest of the Council, not any civilians aside from Ric, and he hadn't said anything about going after Pearl.

"So what did Liz want?" Rebecca asked. "Yesterday when you had the meeting."

"People have been going missing again. This time it's downtown near the old abandoned theater. Liz wants us to check it out. Do a little reconnaissance."

"We should take Ric along. With Isobel having appeared out of nowhere . . . he might need a distraction - or at the very least some kind of release."

"Oh, like the fun kind you and I share on an almost daily basis?" Damon teased, and she blushed. "Doesn't he have Jenna for that?"

"No, he doesn't have Jenna for that! They're not together-together; they just . . . wanna be."

"Well, what he waiting for? The grass to grow?" Damon asked incredulously.

"Ric's a shy sort of guy, I think, when it comes to Jenna."

When Damon and Rebecca showed up at Ric's apartment door neither of them could get in, but Ric was home and they had a short conversation that led to Ric grabbing a bag of weapons and following them out.

When they got to the theater - it was actually the original structure - they got in relatively easily. What locks there had been were broken, and even if they hadn't been, Rebecca would have had no qualms about breaking in. It wasn't like it was a house.

They had the right place, it seemed, if the glassy-eyed corpses were anything to go by. The bodies were placed in seats randomly throughout the room.

The building had hosted musicals and plays up until about ten years ago, then the local officials had decided to transform the town square into a sort of outside theater. Four or five times a year a stage would be set up or a projector and screen would be brought in, and people would take off and picnic on the grass for community time.

"You do realize this is a trap . . ." Ric spoke up from behind Rebecca and Damon. Rebecca had made a stipulation; she and Damon had to go in first because they were less vulnerable than he was, even if he did have on his come-back-to-life ring.

The dark theater, the bodies set up in a grotesque manner . . . Yeah, definitely a trap.

Damon rolled his eyes. "Come on, Ric. Give us some credit, please. I've been around long enough to smell a set-up from a mile away."

"Right."

"Guys, focus," Rebecca said. "There are at least four of them in the balcony above."

Ric seemed ready for anything and Rebecca's eyes strayed to his nifty ring. It was a relief knowing he could get hurt and still be fine. Ric handed Damon and Rebecca each a wooden stake.

"Remind me why I decided to come with you," Ric said.

"People going missing, people dying, we asked you," Damon said. "And you have no social life."

Rebecca shook her head and sent a half-smile in Ric's direction. The history teacher didn't look majorly offended in any way. He seemed to understand that, as Damon's friend, he had to learn to put up with the teasing. Nine times our of ten, if Damon was going to tease Ric, it would be about his occupation - teaching wasn't exactly the best way to make friends.

Well, whatever job Ric had, he was still a friend, and Rebecca cared about him enough to not let him get hurt if it could be helped. Which was why she pushed Ric down as a vampire - more than one vampire, actually - came down from the balcony; Ric ended up in one of the seats and on top of a body. Thank God he wasn't squeamish.

The vampire she'd saved Ric from had basically _landed_ on Rebecca's stake. She heard Damon scoff; the second the stake had pierced the vampire's heart he had mummified.

Two more vampires jumped down, and one of them had grabbed Rebecca by the shirt. The first two buttons at her neck popped and then she moved enough to get out of his grasp. She launched a kick at the vampires jaw and his head snapped back hard. Then she kicked him again. The other one Damon had grabbed, but Rebecca couldn't focus on that because the one who she had kicked was coming back again. He was snarling.

She drove the stake up through the vampire's ribs and into the heart. She watched him fall to the ground, dead and mummified.

Another vampire had gotten to Ric, and the hunter was cracking the vampire over the head with his fist. For a human that was thirty-something, Ric could handle himself pretty well. He staked the vampire easily.

All would've been well, but another vampire raced to Ric and tackled him to the ground.

"Ric!" Something bad could happen to him, and she cared about him. He was like a brother or an uncle or something like that. She felt close to him - he'd helped save her life over and over again, so how could she not?

Luckily, Damon had been paying more attention. Not that Ric seemed to need help; he'd been fast enough to turn the stake in his hands so he could kill the vampire.

With all the vampires that had been on the balcony having been killed, Rebecca stood still and focused a little. There were more vampires in the building.

"We're not alone," she told Damon and Ric.

"There are more?" Ric asked, and Rebecca nodded.

The three moved deeper into the theater, farther down the dark aisles.

"God, the smell," Rebecca complained.

The people that were dead had had their throats ripped out; that had been why they'd died. When Rebecca, Damon, and Ric reached the stage, the red theater curtains were drawn back. And then they saw more vampires and more bodies, only these people weren't dead. They were awake and terrified.

"My God," Ric said.

Rebecca didn't say anything, but she was fairly certain God didn't have anything to do with what was happening. Rebecca was assuming there were more vampires backstage, but she didn't know how many. Right now she was more worried about the humans. They needed help.

"You rescue, I'll distract," Damon said to Rebecca and Ric.

* * *

Damon ended up on the right side of the stage and he knew there were at least six vampires, but since they weren't attacking him he left them alone. That was until he was attacked from both sides - one male, one female.

They were easy enough to take out, but three more were coming his way. At least they weren't going after Rebecca or Ric. Whether they killed all the vampires or the vampire ran away, they would have serious damage control with the victims. Serious compulsion would be needed. He would be able to teach Rebecca how to compel people now.

It happened very fast then. One second it was three against one and then it was three against two. Rebecca had done some cool gymnastics move that resembled a somersault and had landed on the stage. If Damon hadn't been fighting for his life, he might've stopped to watch. Damon vaguely wondered where Ric had gone off to, but couldn't ask yet. He didn't want to distract Rebecca, who was kicking a vampire in the face.

Rebecca had drawn more vampires to her and Damon; she'd told Ric to guard the humans, which was what he was doing right then.

She saw a vampire - a big football player one - dive for Damon, who sidestepped and brought his knee up to connect with the guys' stomach. Damon then proceeded to force his hand through the vampire's chest. When he moved his arm back there was a heart in the palm of his hand.

"Ew," Rebecca said, momentarily distracted.

Which wasn't good because someone wrapped their hand around her throat and lifted her into the air, throwing her toward Damon, who caught her before she hit the ground.

"Nice save," she said, straightening herself up. Now she had a bloodstain on her shirt and it was very prominent. Her shirt was white, too.

As soon as Rebecca had righted herself, Damon went after the vampire who had dared lay a hand on Rebecca. But the vampires - all the ones left - were quickly vacating the premises.

"Ric!" Rebecca said, going toward center stage where the people were.

"Wait," Damon said, grabbing her wrist. "This feels like another trap. Why would the people be on the stage unless someone wanted us to see this?"

Rebecca had to admit she hadn't thought of that, but it was true . . . To place the victims in center stage . . . someone was making a spectacle.

Rebecca looked from Damon to the people Ric was now helping. She shrugged a little and began walking toward center stage. If this _was_ a trap, they wouldn't know until they walked into it; then they could take care of it if someone popped out.

* * *

After a few minutes they were sure that they were safe from whatever trap had been set - if there had been one to begin with. No one was there to see it through. Maybe it had been a coincidence, having the victims on stage.

As Rebecca and Damon compelled the people to forget what they'd been through and to only remember being bitten by an animal - it would work because the vampires who had taken these people could've done it themselves. The problem was that compelling people took energy; expending energy for vampires wasn't much different than it was for humans - once the energy was used, one would need to replenish it. That meant Rebecca needed to feed soon.

"Damon . . ."

All the people here - there were five - were bleeding and the scent of the red liquid was invading her senses. She wanted it, and it would be so easy . . .

"Ric, get her out of here," Damon said and the teacher didn't hesitate.

Rebecca let Ric lead her off the stage and up the aisle toward the exit. Once outside, Rebecca took a deep breath of blood-free air.

"You okay?" Ric asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." She took another deep breath. "Take me home? Damon's gonna be here a while; he has to wait for Liz anyway."

"Sure. Come on."

* * *

The second Ric and Rebecca had gotten to the boardinghouse Rebecca _knew_ something was wrong. It was too quiet. Rebecca had left Chelsea with Sarah - the young vampire was good with Chelsea. But Rebecca didn't hear anything coming from inside. No heartbeats, nothing.

"Sarah?" Rebecca called as she ran in, leaving Ric standing outside. "Stefan? Chelsea?"

She checked the basement in case Sarah had gone down for blood, but she wasn't there.

"Sarah!"

Back upstairs, she found Ric standing there with his phone out. She could hear Damon's voice on the other end.

"I'm checking the rooms upstairs. You check down here," she said as she used her speed to get upstairs.

Rebecca's heart was beating triple time. Where was her sister? And where was Sarah? Or Stefan?

Chelsea's room hadn't been touched and no one was there, so she went to Sarah's. She found out why there hadn't been any noise. Sarah was there on her bed, a stake through her heart. The girl was dead. The only thing Rebecca could think about then was that . . . Chelsea was gone. Chelsea was gone and Rebecca couldn't find out what happened because Sarah was dead.

The pain and fear she felt right then was crippling. She actually fell to her knees. Chelsea was . . . Rebecca didn't know where Chelsea was.

And suddenly she knew . . . the fight at the theater and the people. . . . it hadn't been a trap; it had been bait. Whoever had Chelsea now had known she and Damon would check it out. They had waited and had stolen Chelsea the first chance they'd had.

Rebecca's worst fear was coming to life. She had to find her sister, but she had no clue where to start. She needed Damon; he would know what to do.

She was brought out of her fear-induced state by a sudden crack and thud. It had come from downstairs. Ric . . . what had he done?

She slowly made her way down the stairs, calling his name on the way. There he was, in the parlor, on the floor, dead. A glance at his hand assured her that Ric would come back to life. She was assuming someone supernatural had killed Ric because it would've taken a _lot_ for a normal person to get the drop on the hunter.

She heard a creak come from behind her and then there was a small sting in her back. It grew to a serious burning sensation running through her veins. Vervain; she'd been dosed with vervain.

That was all she knew as her world turned to darkness.

* * *

"Ric?" Damon's voice called again. He'd been talking to his hunter friend when he'd heard something snap and then it sounded like Ric had dropped the phone.

He'd gotten the gist of the story. Rebecca thought Chelsea was missing or had been taken. Damon hadn't wanted to jump to conclusions, but Rebecca wasn't the type to unduly freak out. If she thought someone had taken Chelsea, she probably had a reason to think that.

Which was why he'd excused himself from Liz's presence and was now on his way home.

Ric was just waking up when Damon stepped into the house. The teacher seemed sore but otherwise fine.

"You okay?" Damon asked, just to be sure.

"Yeah," he said, massaging his neck. "I think he snapped my neck."

"He who?" Damon asked. "Where's Rebecca?"

Ric shook his head. "Chase was here. I think he took her."

Chase . . . God, Damon had thought he'd left. Nobody had heard from him since the night of the kickoff party. And this couldn't be happening.

Damon had _just_ gotten her back. First she'd been tortured by the tomb vampires and then Stefan had killed her. Damon had almost lost her too many times; it couldn't be happening again.

"Damon, I'll help you find her," Ric said, putting a hand on Damon's shoulder. "Just tell me what you want me to do."

Damon looked at Ric, a new respect in his eyes. Ric had just died and yet here he was offering to help. Maybe he could trust Ric after all.

"Go to Elena's. Stefan's not here, so that's where he'll be. Elena or Jeremy has a compass that will lead you to vampires. I can't use it because I interfere with the signal, but -"

"I'm human, so I won't. Got it."

Damon was halfway to the door before he turned back around and said. "Ric . . . Thanks.

Ric, still massaging his neck, shrugged sheepishly and said, "You're welcome."

* * *

Rebecca awoke to someone kissing her neck and massaging her breasts. Her shirt was open and her bra had been torn off.

"Damon . . ."

That was the logical conclusion; she didn't allow anyone else to touch her this way. She continued to believe that until the hand caressing her breasts turned rough. Whoever it was, had squeezed hard. That hurt made all her other nerve endings come alive. The vervain had worked its way through her system and she felt as if she were on fire.

"I'm not Damon," the voice said. "But you can pretend if you like."

Her eyes snapped open. She knew that voice. Chase.

Her body jerked away from his touch when she realized who he was with, who she'd allowed, however unwittingly, to touch her so intimately.

"You . . ." She grabbed her head as dizziness struck her. "Where's Chelsea?"

"Safe. Not here."

Chase reached out and touched her leg, her thigh, and Rebecca realized Chase had removed her jeans. She clenched her jaw. What was he playing at?

She moved away again, but he followed her. She closed her shirt and began buttoning it up.

"What do you want? Aside from the obvious."

"I'll make it clear. Chelsea is safe because I _allow_ her to be safe. How long she stays safe is up to you."

Without thinking, Rebecca reached up to smack him. He caught her hand with ease.

_Damn the vervain!_ she thought.

Chase squeezed harder than necessary and she cried out.

"Don't do that again."

He reached down and parted her legs and she let out a small hiss.

This would not happen. She knew Damon would be looking for her right this instant. All she had to do was wait.

"This isn't happening," she said, tugging away, and he allowed her to go free. "Not with you, not ever. What was with the stunt at the theater? All those people who died . . . why?"

"I had to get your attention somehow," he said shrugging.

"And Sarah? She was you sister, and you killed her."

Chase shrugged again. "I never cared about her; you know that."

"You don't care about anything, Chase. You don't even care about me, you just want me."

Then it struck her that she was completely vulnerable, and with the worst person. Chase could do whatever he wanted and she wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

* * *

When Ric had gotten to Elena's he had called Damon right away. Damon had had a short conversation with Ric, telling him to check the south side of town while Damon would take the north. Then Stefan had gotten on the line.

"Damon, let me help. And stop whatever you're doing. Calm down."

"I am calm!" Damon snapped, proving he wasn't calm at all. "Why?"

"You remember what Bonnie's Grams said? You and Becca are connected. You could _feel_ her better when she was human because it's supposed to be a vampire/human relationship, but then Bonnie said the bond was unbreakable, remember?"

It clicked instantly. The connection was still there. He just had to find it. And then he could find Rebecca easily.

"Okay, Stefan, you and Ric find Chelsea. Ask Jeremy to call Anna, get her to help. Check everywhere. I'll call if I find Becca. You do the same if -"

Damon's voice wouldn't work because he . . . he was in a very bad position. Rebecca had been taken by Chase, the abusive, controlling ex-boyfriend. That aspect of his personality would've been magnified. And Chelsea . . . she had to be alive. Chase had no leverage if Chelsea wasn't alive. And this - Chase using Chelsea - had been what Rebecca had warned him about when she'd brought up sending Chelsea away. They hadn't been able to keep the little girl safe; they might have to give the girl up, against his better judgment.

"Damon?" his brother said hesitantly. "We know they're both alive. Just find Rebecca. No matter what's happening to her right now . . . she'll be fine once you find her."

"Yeah. I'll . . . take care of it. Find Chelsea."

* * *

Meanwhile, Rebecca had moved from the room she'd woken up in. She'd gone down a spiraling staircase and had found she recognized the room she was now in.

"Isobel's house . . . She left."

"Yup. Now I'm living here." Chase shrugged. "I like it here."

Rebecca shivered. The vervain was still in her system and she was jittery from the effect of the dosage Chase had given her. But she didn't want him to know how bad she felt.

"Does John know about this?"

"Yup. You're a vampire now. He really doesn't care what happens to you."

"My becoming a vampire was an accident, Chase. How did _you_ become a vampire?"

"I met someone who was very interested in you. She wanted you out of the picture. I offered to take care of that for her. But since you're a Slayer, I needed all the help I could get. Hence, my being turned."

"Who is she?" Rebecca felt like she already knew the answer, but she wanted to be sure.

"Katherine, of course," Chase said, green eyes sparkling with amusement. "Between you and me, she's a bit _afraid _of you. She's the one who's organized all these attacks against you. I think she was scared to face you on her own."

Chase stepped toward her. "Though I don't think you're that dangerous. Actually . . . right now you seem kind of weak and kitten-y to me."

Rebecca didn't step away from him. She wouldn't show him how scared he was making her feel. Only when she could feel the heat from his skin did she move away.

"Scared and defenseless and alone. Damon's not here to help you now."

Rebecca's predator instincts suddenly kicked in and she launched herself at him. She felt her face change and her canines elongate, and then she was sinking her teeth into his neck, much like she had done with Stefan. This was a defensive action; it was nothing like the intimate bites she and Damon shared.

Chase's blood wouldn't do much in the way of satisfying her hunger, but it would give her strength enough to get away. What she hadn't counted on was the fact that Chase grabbed her when she began biting him.

She felt his hands go up her shirt, but she wasn't worried about that. As he was _feeling_ she was _feeding_. She continued drinking and Chase's hands fell from her once she'd taken enough.

"Vampire blood works too," she said as she pulled away.

She grabbed Chase's head and twisted until his neck snapped. And despite the fact that she was in her shirt and underwear . . . she ran. She knew she probably should've found something to kill Chase with, but she just wanted to be away from him. After finding out what he had wanted . . . she had no desire to be anywhere near Chase. She made it out the front door and into the woods.

What she didn't know was that Damon had been tracking her for the past thirty minutes. So when she ran straight into him she let out a small scream. A hand was placed over her mouth and an arm wrapped around her waist.

"Shh, shh, shh. It's okay. You're okay."

"Damon," her voice was muffled. "Oh, God!"

Damon felt her body go limp in his arms, but she hadn't passed out; he knew it was from exhaustion and stress and then relief. Then Damon realized Rebecca was almost bare. _What_ had Chase been doing to her? And how had she gotten out?

"Becca, listen to me. Everything's gonna be okay, but you have to tell me where he is. He won't have the chance to do this again!"

"Isobel . . . he's where Isobel was." Rebecca grabbed his arms and squeezed. "Damon, you have to find out where Chelsea is, so you can't kill him yet."

"Don't worry, we'll find Chelsea. I'll take care of it." Damon handed her his phone. "Call Stefan. He'll want to know you're okay. He and Ric are looking for Chelsea. Find out what they know."

"Well, wait, I'm coming with _you_."

"Becca, no. You need to go home, feed, and help find Chelsea."

Rebecca nodded reluctantly. She didn't want to leave Damon so soon after getting back to him, but . . . she did need to feed and she wanted to help find Chelsea. While Damon did what _he_ had to do to find Chelsea, Rebecca was going to search everywhere.

* * *

Okay so . . . here's one of Rebecca's worst fears come to life. They're using Chelsea against her. And the plot thickens. Katherine has been in on everything that has happened to Rebecca pretty much.


	57. Chapter 52

Chapter Fifty-Two

Considering how long it had taken for Damon to find Rebecca, and considering he hadn't heard anything about Chelsea, he was not in a good mood when he reached Chase.

Rebecca had obviously bitten Chase to strengthen herself enough to get away. And then, before running, she'd snapped Chase's neck - Damon proudly thought that _he'd_ taught her that.

Chase had lost a lot of blood. It made it easier to restrain him. Damon didn't even _want_ to know why Isobel had had chains here, but she had, and that was what he was using.

Now he had to wait for Chase to wake up.

* * *

Rebecca made it to the boardinghouse in record time. She'd been planning to go straight to the basement, but she stood in the doorway of the parlor. John was there . . . with Chelsea. Had he been the one who'd had her this whole time? Well . . . Chase had admitted to working with John, so . . .

"Oh, you are walking on _very_ dangerous ground, Mr. Gilbert. Give me my sister."

Rebecca, ignoring the fact that she had blood on her chin and down her neck, stepped toward the light-haired Gilbert.

"Before I hand her over, I need your word that no harm will come to me by doing so."

"As long as no harm has come to my sister . . . I won't hurt you."

"She's been safe. Chase . . . will be dealt with. He's not a good partner. He's a liability."

"If you knew he was coming for me . . . wh - why didn't you tell me or Damon?"

"I assumed Damon would take care of the problem whether he knew Chase was after you or not."

"Well . . . Damon is _taking care of it_ as we speak."

John handed Chelsea over, and Rebecca brought her to her chest.

"You took a risk coming here. How did you know you'd run into me instead of Damon?"

"I didn't. But I did know where you were. I figured that was leverage enough for him not to kill me."

"If Chase took Chelsea, why would he give her to you?"

John shook his head. "He wasn't going to, but I told him he couldn't hurt her. She's just a baby, a child."

So there was a line John wouldn't cross; that was good to know.

"You were bringing her back. To Damon or to whoever would be here when you got here."

"Yes. And assuming it was Damon, I would've told him where you were."

Rebecca, having way too many thoughts in her mind already, couldn't bring herself to _care_ about why John would be helping them out. She knew he'd have a reason if she asked, but he'd probably lie about it too. She didn't have time for whatever he had to say.

"Thank you for bringing Chelsea back safely. Now leave."

She didn't wait to see if he actually left; she was desperately hungry and she needed to feed. Usually she wouldn't let Chelsea see her feed from a blood bag, but she needed the elixir badly enough that she didn't care what her sister saw, and she wasn't leaving Chelsea alone so soon. Not until she was sure no one else was coming for her.

* * *

Meanwhile, Damon had tied Chase up in a way in which Chase's shoulders would stay dislocated. Damon knew from experience how bad that hurt. Damon had no way of contacting anyone because he'd given Rebecca his phone. He didn't know where hers was. Whatever. If they couldn't find it, he'd get her a new one.

Chase wasn't cooperating. He was talking, just not about the right things. All he got from Chase was that Chelsea was supposedly safe.

"You know, I never realized how silky Rebecca's skin was until tonight," Chase taunted.

"I'm going to break _every single one_ of your fingers if you don't be careful."

"You gonna kill me anyway. What do I care?"

"Yes, I am gonna kill you," Damon said. "I can drag it out painfully, _or_ I can make it quick. And exactly how quick it's going to be depends on what exactly you did to Rebecca."

"Just scared her a little. No big deal."

Damon followed through on his threat and casually began breaking Chase's fingers one by one. By the third snap Chase was screaming almost nonstop.

Damon didn't need any switch to not care what was happening to Chase. Damon's mind kept going back to Rebecca's state of undress and he couldn't help but leap to the logical conclusion. Rebecca wouldn't have undressed herself, so . . .

Damon leaned in close to Chase's ear. "You know, in the middle east . . . when a man assaults a woman they actually castrate him. I wonder how long you'd stay alive if that happened to you."

Chase stopped breathing for a moment and Damon smirked. Chase was officially afraid of him, and fear was a powerful weapon.

"I hope, for your sake, that that's not what happened . . ."

* * *

Rebecca had called Stefan after she'd showered and changed to tell him to come home. She needed someone to watch Chelsea . . . someone who could actually defend her, protect her if someone came back for her.

When Stefan got there she explained the Sarah situation.

"We can't just leave her upstairs to rot, so I'm taking her in Damon's car to burn her. I think. We can't have another Vicki incident. I'm gonna go get Damon first, but I need to know that I can trust you with Chelsea. So if you're feeling _any_ urges whatsoever you need to be honest with me."

"I'm fine," Stefan said.

"Uh-huh . . . the same kind of 'fine' you were before you killed me or, uh, _really_ fine."

"Really fine. I won't hurt her," Stefan said firmly.

Rebecca nodded. "Okay." She hesitated before continuing. "I have to ask you something. That night you left and went to the quarry . . . Would you have killed yourself if Elena hadn't shown up?"

"That night . . . all I could think about were the people I've hurt and that you were one of them. I ruined everything that Damon and I had fixed in a moment of blind passion or hunger or whatever you want to call it."

"Yes, you did," Rebecca said bluntly. "Even then . . . if you had killed yourself, you wouldn't have been hurting anybody but the people you would've left behind. Damon, Elena . . . me. After being so mean to you, I would've hated myself for a long time if you had died."

"It hurts me, knowing what I've done, and that pain - that pain is with me all the time. And every day, I think that if I just - if I just give myself over to the blood, I can make that pain stop. It would be that easy. And I'm terrified that one day I'm not gonna wanna fight anymore. The next time I hurt somebody it could be Elena."

Stefan had tears in his eyes and his voice was beginning to waver.

"Stefan . . ."

Rebecca couldn't believe it, but she was actually beginning to feel sorry for him. She understood the need for blood now. She had no idea what fresh human blood tasted like so she didn't know how she'd be if she ever had any, but she knew what it was like to be desperately hungry.

"Just watch her for me. Okay?"

"Okay."

Rebecca, praying she wasn't making a mistake by leaving her sister with Stefan, reluctantly went to the bedroom Sarah was in. Taking in the scene with all her senses really jarred her. Before, she hadn't really been able to care about Sarah being dead; she'd been too worried about finding Chelsea. But now . . . now she cared a lot.

Sarah hadn't asked to become a vampire, but given the choice . . . she'd picked it over dying; the girl hadn't wanted to die, and yet . . . here she was. Rebecca chose to believe that Sarah would've died to protect Chelsea, _had_ died protecting Chelsea. Rebecca also chose to believe Sarah was better off dead. Maybe Sarah had been okay with it right then, before she'd been killed, but eventually the young girl would've hated being a vampire. She would've hated growing older but never maturing. Death was a better fate for her.

Rebecca gently pulled the stake out and winced at the small _squish_ that sounded from the sharp wood being removed. She picked Sarah up, cradle style, and walked out of the room.

* * *

"So . . . what exactly happened between you and Rebecca?" Damon mused out loud. He sounded almost casual. "Do you get to keep your bits, or don't you?"

"Look, I told you where Chelsea is. So just go ahead and kill me; it's what you want."

It was true. Chase had finally told him what he'd done with Chelsea. John Gilbert had her. That idiot was so dead. He'd been in on the whole thing; he'd even helped kill Sarah, and he'd let Chase kidnap Rebecca so he could have his way with her.

That's what Chase had wanted.

Before Damon could continue his physical torture of the vampire tied to the chair, he heard a car pull into the driveway. No one but Rebecca knew he was there. Maybe John had come to pay Chase a visit.

Two birds, one stone.

He smirked at the bound vampire. "Don't go anywhere."

He made it to the front door and when he opened it . . . he was surprised to see his blue Camero parked in the front drive. Rebecca was hopping out of the driver's seat. What was she doing back here?

"Hey," he said. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "I had no way to get in touch with you. I got Chelsea back. Well, actually, John was waiting with her back at the boardinghouse. He, uh . . . I don't think he agreed with what Chase was doing. He was going to give her back and tell you where I was. The last part is only so you wouldn't kill him, I think. He doesn't care what happens to me anymore, if he ever did."

"So . . . she's safe?" Damon asked carefully.

"Stefan's watching her. He won't hurt her." Rebecca looked over Damon's shoulder, into the house. "Is he dead yet?"

"No." Her grabbed her hand. "I need to know . . . what he did to you. Before I kill him."

Rebecca shook her head and Damon thought that meant she wasn't going to talk about it.

"He told me some things and I'll explain later - everything. Now, I just want him dead. All you need to know right now is that he _wanted_ to, but he _didn't_. So whatever you've done, it's enough. Just kill him so we can take him and burn him. We've gotta take care of Sarah too."

"Right." Damon had almost forgotten. "You're safe and Chelsea's safe. Guess we don't need him alive anymore."

Damon was going to take great pleasure in killing Chase.

* * *

While Damon was taking care of Chase, Rebecca kept going over everything she'd learned. All the things that had happened to her, every attempt made to kill her, had been because of Katherine Pierce. Like Damon had said . . . someone had been making her their prey. And the predator had been Katherine.

Katherine didn't have Damon to use against her anymore, so she'd let Chase use Chelsea. That bitch! But she'd also learned that Katherine was afraid of her. She wouldn't face Rebecca herself. All Rebecca knew was that John had okay-ed the whole thing; it didn't matter how it had ended - he'd helped set the thing in motion. John had to be dealt with; they needed to find a way to get rid of him. A way that wouldn't expose them. They needed to get rid of his files and information about Mystic Falls and the more-than-human citizens.

Rebecca thought she knew exactly how to pull it off. She just needed to be alone before trying it out.

_Oh, God. I'm thinking about murdering someone_, she thought. _This can't be me._

But it was her now. The need to kill - or the urge - was there all the time. Sometimes it was stronger than others, but it was always there.

"Damon, kill him and let's go," she said. "We have things to do."

Inside, Damon heard her and unchained the now dead body from the chair. He lifted Chase over his shoulder and went outside. Rebecca seemed strung a little tight and Damon wasn't going to press yet.

Rebecca was sitting on the porch looking very resigned about something when he got outside.

"You ready?" he asked.

She didn't nod or speak; she just hopped up and walked back to the car.

* * *

By the time Damon and Rebecca got home, Rebecca was exhausted. She'd cried on the way home from burning Sarah. Rebecca couldn't care less about Chase being dead. He'd kidnapped her and had planned on doing gross and obscene things to her. But Sarah? Sarah shouldn't have died that way.

The first thing Rebecca did when she stepped inside the house was go to Stefan and grab Chelsea. Chelsea was fine, not fussing. No harm had come to her from Chase, John, or Stefan.

"Thank you," she told Stefan. "Really."

"No problem."

She stumbled up the stairs toward her and Damon's room. She knew Damon was silently following behind. When they reached the room Rebecca laid on the bed with Chelsea in her arms.

Damon could see something was wrong other than the obvious, so he laid down behind Rebecca and spooned, wrapping an arm around her. Rebecca's back was stiff from being put through an emotional wringer. He heard her start sniffling and Damon felt something clench in his chest. He didn't know what she was feeling, and she wasn't talking on her own. He didn't know whether he should ask or just let her speak in her own time.

"I don't understand what's wrong, I don't know how to help you," Damon admitted out loud. "Tell me what you want me to do." There was a pleading to his voice that Damon didn't use with anyone else. He didn't care as much about anyone else.

"We almost lost Chelsea today," she whispered.

Damon watched Rebecca slide a hand over her sister's stomach. Rebecca's hand was trembling; in fact, her whole body was.

"And John was in on it, and . . ." Rebecca sighed. "I learned a lot from Chase. That every attempt that's been made to kill me has been because of Katherine."

Damon subconsciously pulled Rebecca closer. Katherine wanted Rebecca dead. Chase had been working with John, John had been working with Isobel, and Isobel knew Katherine. Everything had come full circle.

"Is she here?" Damon asked, and felt a shrug come from the girl he was holding.

"Chase said he thinks she's scared of me. She won't face me alone."

"Well, you _are_ bad-ass," Damon said lightly, trying to making her feel better.

"Doesn't matter. If Katherine's gonna come for me, she's going to use the people I love to do it. And I want John dead." Rebecca stiffened again. "And I'm gonna be the one to do it. I know a way to make it safe for us."

"Ah . . ."

Rebecca, along with a happy but tired Chelsea, turned over so Damon could see them both. It was awful seeing Rebecca so torn up about something. Her eyes were red and her skin was becoming blotchy.

It wasn't until Chelsea was asleep that Rebecca was able to take Chelsea to her room, and she didn't really want to separate for that. Damon was waiting at the doorway when she came back. He opened his arms and she almost collapsed against him. He pulled her close to him, close enough to feel her breasts against his chest. His hand went to her hair and his fingers played through it.

Damon realized his own body was shaking with the need to protect her from the words she had said. When she looked up he saw the tears and knew that even though her crying had been silent . . . her pain was very real.

Rebecca tilted her mouth just so and moved to kiss him. It was a soft kiss, but it was also one that easily became full of passion. She moved on to Damon's neck and sucked and bit lovingly at it.

In her distress, she began fumbling with his belt and the zipper on his jeans. She groaned impatiently and Damon grabbed her hands, stopping her actions. Then Damon was kissing her. He picked her up and carried her over to the bed. They both fell to the bed. He only stopped kissing her long enough to pull her shirt over her head.

He noticed that she didn't have a bra on and realized Chase must've taken it off of her. He began making love to her breasts with his hands. When his mouth followed he looked up at her through half-lidded eyes. She was no longer crying. He felt her hands beginning to tug at his shirt and he helped her remove it. Her mouth felt soft and sweet when she attached her lips to his chest.

Damon heard a small whimper spill from her lips. That was when Damon realized she wasn't doing this because she wanted it; she _needed_ this. She was practically writhing underneath him. Damon stopped, lifted himself off of her, and sank beside her. He watched as she began removing her pants. Not long after that he was as bare as she was and on top of her again, her hand at his achingly hard member, guiding him toward her entrance.

She cried out when he sheathed himself inside her. She pulled him closer and latched her mouth onto his. Her hips slammed up to meet his and she moaned.

Damon froze; it hadn't been a good moan.

"Don't stop," she whispered in his ear. "Please, just . . ."

Rebecca was using him, Damon realized. She wasn't even enjoying this - she wasn't even wet; he'd realized that when he'd pushed his way into her. She wanted him to _hurt_ her. Well, she was sadly mistaken if she thought he was going to go along with that.

He began to pull out of her but she wrapped her legs around him and held him in place.

"Damon, please. I -"

Rebecca seemed to want to be in control because she shifted to flip them over so she could be on top. She braced herself on his chest and set an almost punishing pace for herself, and for him because he didn't want Rebecca this way - he never wanted to do this for selfish reasons, not with her. And it shouldn't be about pain, but that's what this was - she was trying to hurt herself.

* * *

The first time they were together that night . . . they weren't making love; they were fucking, plain and simple, and she was almost brutal in everything she did. It was because she'd been introduced to the murderer, the predator, within herself.

And this . . . this was worse than Damon because Damon's little escapades weren't usually premeditated. He usually just snapped and killed someone because it made sense at the time. This was worse than Stefan, even, because Stefan couldn't control himself. He didn't mean to go crazy; he just did.

But Rebecca was in complete control. She knew John wouldn't hesitate to use Chelsea again. He might not have come up with the plan to use her this time, but he now knew it worked like a charm; he knew how much of a weakness Chelsea was for both her and Damon. John wouldn't leave it alone. He had to be taken care of.

A few minutes after Rebecca had pulled away from Damon she realized exactly what she'd done to him. She'd basically forced herself on him. She was just as bad a Chase! He'd wanted to stop and she hadn't let him. She hadn't let him because she'd needed to feel him there even if it hurt. She'd wanted to be hurt. She'd decided on becoming a killer and so she deserved to be punished.

She looked him over and realized he hadn't enjoyed anything she'd done. He hadn't even let himself come. The worst thing was that Damon didn't even look mad. He looked worried . . . about her.

"Oh, Damon, I'm sorry," she whispered, feeling tears sting her eyes. "I don't know what - what happened, I just . . ."

"You used me," Damon said. Rebecca felt worse than ever now because Damon's voice held disbelief. He hadn't thought she would ever do anything like that and she had let him down. "You used me to hurt yourself."

"I know." Rebecca didn't know what to say other than that.

Suddenly Damon was on top of her again and had her hands held above her head. He was staring intently into her eyes like he was trying to compel her.

"_Never_ do that again."

Then instead of leaving or, more likely, tossing her out - which she would've completely understood - he began to kiss her jawline tenderly.

The second time they were together they _we__re _making love. Damon set the pace this time. It was what she had wanted. To be made love to. She hadn't known but _he_ had, that only him showing how much he loved her would help. She needed to know someone cared about her because she didn't much care for herself just then.

Damon exploded inside of her, but didn't make a move to get off of her. He wasn't heavy on her; it was almost protective - like he wanted to be a shield for her, wanted to keep all bad things in the world away from her because he loved her that much. Damon dropped little butterfly kisses over her cheeks and lips and neck. Damon had noticed that Rebecca had responded more when he'd been tender rather than when she'd been rough and fast. That was how he'd known that, whether she'd acknowledged it or not, she'd needed to be made love to.

"Can you really make it safe for us to kill John?" Damon asked as he moved off of her. "If you can do that, I can take care of the rest."

Rebecca shook her head against his chest. "Thank you, but no. Chelsea is my sister, so I have to be the one to do it."

Things were silent for a moment and then Rebecca kissed Damon's chest and said, "You trust me on this, right? Than I can sort everything out to where no harm will come to us."

"I trust that you wouldn't be contemplating this unless you were certain, yes."

"Good. Then please don't ask me about it until it's done. I don't wanna talk about it, okay?"

"Sure," Damon said softly.

* * *

Rebecca was focused on her new mission, which was making sure John died. What she had to do was get rid of John's files on Mystic Falls first. Rebecca was working on that now.

She had called Diana, her ex-Watcher, and she was now at the Grill meeting with her. Diana had been surprised to hear from Rebecca. One: Diana had betrayed Rebecca and, in so doing, had almost gotten her killed. Two: Diana had known Rebecca had been killed. A new Slayer had been called, so . . . Diana knew Rebecca was a vampire now.

Rebecca hadn't told Damon that Diana was back in town; it stood to reason that Diana wouldn't last long at all if he knew the Watcher was meeting with Rebecca.

When the gray-haired woman arrived and sat down Rebecca could tell how nervous she was. Maybe the woman thought Rebecca would hurt her.

"Why did you want to meet me here?"

"It's a public place. I thought you'd feel safer." Rebecca shrugged. "And I wanted to know _you_ wouldn't try anything. A lot of things you've done has resulted in my near-death, and now I am dead, so . . . I need your help. I need someone who can cut through the metaphorical red tape."

This was the part Rebecca didn't know how Diana would react to. Yes, things that Diana had done, things she shouldn't have ever done, had resulted in Rebecca getting hurt. But that had been because of Diana's job. This was her asking Diana to be an accomplice to murder.

"There's a man here named John Gilbert; you may or may not have heard of him. He's causing problems for me and for Damon. He's . . . he has certain files and records that could do even more damage if he chose to use them. Information about me and the Salvatore's,' and as if that isn't bad enough, he's not above using Chelsea to get to me."

Diana looked confused. "What exactly are you asking me to do?"

"I need you to find a way to get rid of the files. I don't want that hanging over my head."

"You want him dead," Diana surmised.

Rebecca shrugged uncomfortably. "I can't do my job if he's here. I don't _want_ to kill him. If you have a way to get rid of him that won't result in his death, fine . . . otherwise, yes, that's what I'm saying. And before you get all high and mighty, you had no problem agreeing to the plot that almost killed me."

"And now you are dead," Diana said softly, regret filling her voice. "Did Damon . . ."

"No, Damon did not," Rebecca almost hissed. "If you must know, it was Stefan. There was an . . . accident and he lost control. He bit me and Damon gave me his blood so I would heal, but it was too late; I'd lost too much blood already."

Rebecca bit her lip hard enough to draw blood and then eyed her ex-Watcher. "So . . . can you help me? Or . . . will you help me?"

Diana sighed. "Do I really have a choice?"

"Yes, actually. Damon doesn't know you're here. You're free to leave, if you want. But . . . you owe me. After everything you've done to me, you owe me this. All you have to do is get rid of the files that Mr. Gilbert has on Mystic Falls and it's less-than-human citizens. Yeah?"

"I will _not_ take part in killing a human being," Diana said. "Whatever my previous actions have made you believe . . . I never wanted any harm to come to you. When I administered the drugs to you, I was led to believe that the test you would be put through would be in a controlled environment. No real harm should've come to you."

"Yeah, well, it did." Rebecca's curiosity had been piqued, however. "How did you give me the drugs without me knowing about it?"

"Crystals. I made you go into a trace and I fed it through you intravenously. You never felt a thing."

"You poisoned me," Rebecca said softly. "Do you realize that?"

Things were tense and silent as Rebecca and Diana took each other in. Rebecca wasn't speaking because she was waiting to see what Diana was going to decide.

"Hypothetically speaking . . . if I help . . . how do I get in touch with you? I can't stay here. Damon would kill me."

Rebecca couldn't argue with that, but she knew if Damon knew Diana was helping her with something, he wouldn't kill her until the job was done, anyway. And, depending on whether or not the ex-Watcher had redeemed herself in Damon's eyes, Diana might survive.

Not for the first time, Rebecca thought that if something happened to Diana that it would be considered collateral damage. Sometimes when one is getting a job done, people got hurt. She hated herself for thinking that way, but she did.

"Damon won't hurt you if I ask him not to. Besides, you're the only one who can help us now; he can't do anything to you without taking that away."

Rebecca told her about not having been able to use her apartment. Technically nobody could get in. It wasn't bank-owned, and Diana had left the apartment to Rebecca but she had never gotten around to signing the lease. Now she didn't have to. Diana could live there again.

"Damon and I were going to get all your books from the apartment, but we never got around to it. You'll have to invite me in so I can get them."

"Just you?" Diana asked.

"Just me," Rebecca concurred. "That way you'll have a safe haven from Damon, just in case."

* * *

After the _talk_ with Diana was over, Rebecca left to go to the school. Everyone was still setting up for the parade, and Caroline had asked her for help. Rebecca hadn't been able to help the last time because of the Isobel thing, so she'd promised to help this time around.

Caroline was with Elena and Bonnie; Matt couldn't help because his arm was broken. Rebecca passed by Carol Lockwood who was talking to a group of teenage boys. Jeremy and Tyler were in that group; they were going to be part of a reenactment of the Battle of Willow Creek. The town's historical version of it, anyway.

When Rebecca reached Caroline and the other two girls, she embraced them all and asked them what they were doing.

"Well," Caroline began, "we're almost done with the float for the Mystic Queen and her court. All we have to do is make sure the streamers are secure. Then I promised to help Tyler with the float for the battle reenactment; painting, mostly. then . . ." Caroline paused for dramatic effect; the girl was almost beaming with enthusiasm. "We get to pick dresses from the town's historical society."

The way Caroline's voice was, all excited, Rebecca thought the blond wouldn't have been happier if she'd won the lottery. Rebecca would've taken the money any day of the week. She was glad Caroline was so excited though.

Once the streamers were all set, the girls walked over to where the battle float was. The history team, led by Tyler Lockwood, had built a sturdy replica of _Old Fell's Church_. The soldiers for the display would borrow uniforms and model guns from the historical society.

Rebecca took note of the tension between Elena and Jeremy. Elena had obviously found out about Jeremy reading her diary and Jeremy still hadn't forgiven Elena for keeping things from him.

Mr. Saltzman was supervising the history team - he _was_ the history teacher, so it made sense - and even though Rebecca was as young as a student she didn't feel like one, so she was fine with thinking of him as a potential friend.

"Hey, Ric," she said softly, stopping beside him.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Not much. I was actually wondering how you were."

"Uh, I should be asking you that," he said, chuckling. "But I'm fine. I feel . . . free now, I guess. Like . . . I have closure now. Seeing her, it sealed up a lot of things for me."

"Well, you had a lot of questions before. You have the answers now." Rebecca smiled softly. "She told me before she left that it was never about you, her deciding to turn. It was what she wanted."

"I know," Ric said sadly. "And it's over now; there's nothing I can do about it."

"But you're gonna be okay, right?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna be fine."

Rebecca lightly hit him on the arm. "Maybe now you can move onto Jenna . . ."

Her tone was light and playful. She could've sworn that Ric was blushing.

"You're a demon child," he muttered without any real malice in his voice.

"You know you love me," she said simply. "You can call me, though, if you need anything. Me _or_ Damon will help. He's not a complete ass."

* * *

Okay so here's what happened with Chase. I was also a little iffy about putting in that sex scene because it was so angsty and all. But Rebecca just really thought she deserved the hurt she was putting herself through, and then there was Damon showing her how it _should've_ been. Let me know what you think?


	58. Chapter 53

Chapter Fifty-Three

The night before the Founder's Day parade, Damon and Rebecca made love in the shower once and then twice in the bed. Rebecca had been the one to initiate it because she had almost nothing to worry about and she could really focus on him and his needs. It wasn't a disaster, not like the last time she'd initiated sex.

After the second time in the bed, Damon stayed inside her even though they were both sated; they liked the feeling of being so close. Damon made a trail of butterfly kisses down her jawline and licked the little bit of blood she had on her from his multiple bites.

"Mm . . ." She was completely satisfied. "We're good at this."

Damon chuckled. It sent shivers through both of them. Then he said, "Well, you have a good teacher."

"Agreed. High marks for us both."

He kissed her again before moving off of her and to the side. Damon noticed her emerald eyes were sparkling even though she looked tired. He'd worn her out.

Within minutes they were both breathing evenly and sleeping deeply.

* * *

_Rebecca was standing outside the building that had been Grayson Gilbert's doctor's office. She was alone unless she included her mother, who _couldn't_ be there because her mother was dead._

_But she was there. Same green eyes, same honey-blond hair. Both qualities had been passed down to Rebecca and Chelsea._

_"Mom?"_

_"You have to know what to see."_

_Then all in quick succession, like flashes, she saw John Gilbert, Mayor Lockwood, and the sheriff. Liz was on one side, the two men were on the other._

_Next was Anna. She looked worried and she said, "A lot of people are gonna die."_

_Then there was Bonnie, who was saying, "I couldn't do what she wanted me to do. And when Elena finds out, she's never going to forgive me." There was a quick flash of Bonnie in the parlor of the boardinghouse in front of the fireplace de-spelling the Gilbert device._

_Then Rebecca was suddenly in an old building, in the basement maybe. She wasn't alone here. There were other vampires, some of the ones from the tomb, the ones that had been left behind. John was there with a stake in his hand. There was a smell of gasoline._

_Near the staircase was Anna, who was looking up at John and, a few feet away, on the opposite side of the room was Damon._

_John was planning something; he wanted to get rid of all the vampires._

* * *

Rebecca's eyes flew open when the information clicked. They were all in trouble.

Rebecca realized that her heart was pounding triple time and she focused on breathing properly. She got up and went straight for a piece of paper. She needed to be able to remember everything.

Damon didn't have paper in his room, unless she counted the first edition books Damon had. She had more respect for books than to use one as a notebook, so she had to leave the room.

When she got back, she saw Damon was sitting up in bed running a hand through his already messed up hair.

"What're you doing?" he asked, sleep still in his voice.

"I had a dream, I have to write it down."

At any other time, Damon probably would've made a dirty comment about the dream, but now he could see that she was serious because she was frantically writing down whatever she'd seen.

"What happened?" Damon asked. "What do we need to look out for?"

To Damon's knowledge, Rebecca had never had a premonition due to her Slayer thing. How ironic that they wanted to start up now that she was a vampire.

"My mom," she said. "I saw my mom. She was warning me. And John Gilbert, he's going to try and kill every vampire in this town - including you."

Damon watched Rebecca close her eyes and then take a deep soothing breath.

"Anna, you, gasoline. Bonnie, the device. The mayor and the sheriff. That was all I got. I don't know what everything leads to, but something's going to happen and it's gonna be because of John."

Gasoline was probably going to lead to fire. The vampires were going to be burned to death in a building. John Gilbert was going to be the one to try and pull it off.

"I know I promised not to ask, but . . . whatever you're planning on doing to him . . . do you think you can get it done before whatever this is happens?" Damon asked.

"If everything is taken care of . . . yes." Rebecca sighed. She should've known she couldn't keep things from Damon. "Diana is helping me. She owed me. Once everything is taken care of . . . John will be just a footnote in history."

Damon nodded. He could appreciate using any means necessary to get the job done. But . . . "Are you sure you can trust her?"

"No, but she knows if she betrays me that she'll end up dead. I think she values her life too much to do anything too underhanded."

* * *

Rebecca didn't sleep much the rest of the night; she kept obsessing over her dream. She'd never had a prophetic dream before. She didn't really know what she was supposed to do. Where the flashes from her dream literal representations or should she be taking things symbolically?

She even obsessed over it when she went to help Elena with her dress at the school. Jenna was already there lacing up the corset, and Elena did not look happy.

Rebecca helped Elena fix the sash the way it was supposed to be done, and Elena grimaced.

"Ow. This dress hurts," the brunette said.

"Medieval torture device, I'm telling you," Rebecca muttered, distracted.

Elena's dress was made of all different shades of green. The dress itself was a dark forest-green; the other layers and her accessories were an almost yellow-green.

"Suck it in, baby," Jenna told Elena playfully.

Elena placed her necklace around her neck and Rebecca watched Elena's new curly hair bounce whenever she moved. Rebecca noticed Elena looked more like Katherine now than she ever had before. Only the eyes were different now.

* * *

Outside the school, Damon saw cheerleaders . . . well . . . cheering. There were teenage guys dressed in Union and Confederate uniforms carrying replicas of Civil War rifles; Carol Lockwood was telling the marching band they were in the wrong place.

"The marching band is in front of the historical society."

Then the woman told Matt that it was time for him to get on the float. She bossed around a few volunteers and went in search of the rest of the parade committee.

Then Damon saw Stefan. "Look at you, all retro."

Stefan was in a costume that would've been his normal attire when he'd been human.

"What're you doin' here?" Stefan asked.

"Why wouldn't I be here? Bonnie deactivated the Gilbert invention, Isobel's gone, and it's Founder's Day."

"Hm. Where's Chelsea?"

"With Robert," Damon said nonchalantly. "Rebecca and I will get her back later." Robert had conveniently decided to stay until the old Salvatore house was done being rebuilt. Damon smirked a little. "What about Elena? Have you told her who John is yet?"

Stefan's jaw twitched in irritation.

"That'd be a no," Damon muttered under his breath. "I'd be happy to help, but . . ."

"Don't start with me, Damon."

"Oh, you started it, Stefan, with your whole "leave Elena alone" speech. I'm still enjoying that."

"As long as you heard it."

"Wait, huh?" Damon placed a hand to his ear, pretending he couldn't hear. "What?" Stefan didn't even smile. "You have no sense of humor, Stefan."

"Actually, I just have no sense of Damon humor."

"Damon humor?"

Stefan began walking away and Damon followed him, deciding to give up on the charade.

"Look, I promise I don't intend to hurt Elena, okay? Just because you killed _my_ girlfriend doesn't mean I'm gonna kill yours. She's my friend," Damon said. Friendship meant something to him.

Their conversation was cut short because Elena, along with Rebecca, came toward them and both Salvatore brothers were struck speechless by Elena's period dress. The dark green had blended to an almost murky brown because of the sun hitting the material.

When Elena saw them she curtsied shyly and playfully. Rebecca smiled at the gesture and the two girls stopped in front of them.

"She's all ready," Rebecca said.

"Uh . . . Elena, can I talk to you alone for a minute?" Stefan asked.

Elena nodded and the two went off on their own. Rebecca watched on curiously and a little worried.

"Is everything okay?" she asked Damon, who had an almost sad expression on his face.

"No. Everything is just terrible. I don't even know -"

"What happened?" Oh, God, somebody had died . . . again.

"You didn't even kiss me when you saw me. I just feel so neglected."

Rebecca let a laugh escape and she sighed with relief. Damon was just being Damon. He was being his goofy adorable self.

Rebecca quickly remedied the fact that he felt neglected by searing him with a very passionate, should've-been-done-in-private, kiss.

"Better?" she asked softly, holding onto his arms and squeezing gently.

"Much."

"Good. I promise to _never_ neglect you again." She looked over toward Stefan and Elena. "But something is going on. What did Stefan have to say?"

"We think John Gilbert is Elena's birth father. Or I do; Stefan wants proof."

"Oh." Rebecca didn't know what to say because she'd figured that out already. All the clues pointed to John being the dad. "Well . . . can't say I didn't see that one coming."

Damon grinned. "So there is another person who can put two and two together."

"Oh, yes. I'm very good at that."

Rebecca felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket so she pulled it out. "Jeremy," she said before answering.

"Yeah?"

"Hey, uh . . . are you busy?"

"Not really. I'm at the school, where you should be."

"Yeah, I'm on my way, but I have something important to say. Anna came over earlier and -"

"How _is_ Anna? I mean, with her mother and everything."

"She's . . . coping." She heard Jeremy sigh. "John killed her mother. He killed Pearl. He doesn't understand; he hates all vampires."

"I know."

"He's just doing what he thinks is right. I do understand where he's coming from. Anna told me the vampires from the tomb want revenge on this town; John's trying to protect it."

"No, what _I_ do is protecting this town. You can't kill a whole -"

"Shh!" Damon hissed, and she gave him an apologetic grimace.

"What I mean is you can't blame a whole . . . species . . . for something only a few members have done."

"I know. I'm _not_ defending him. I was just saying . . . don't get angry."

"I'm not angry, I just . . . He was in on a plot that could've gotten me killed, I think."

"He what?" Jeremy asked.

Rebecca didn't answer since he obviously knew what she'd said. He'd heard her right the first time. And her snapping had almost nothing to do with John himself; it had to do with her planning to _kill_ John. He was Jeremy's uncle and Elena's father.

Jeremy and Elena would hate her if she went through with her plan. But John needed to be taken care of.

* * *

After Rebecca got off the phone with Jeremy she went over to Elena and Stefan. Elena seemed to be in shock.

"John?" the brunette asked. Apparently Stefan had given her the news. "Is - is that even possible?"

"Well, there's no proof, but he dated Isobel when he was a teenager and he was the one who brought her to your dad's office for the delivery."

"My whole life I've never liked this man. I -" Elena swept her curls back from her face.

God, with the wavy hair she really did remind Rebecca of Katherine. She knew Damon and Stefan must've noticed.

"I'm sorry," Stefan said. "I just wanted to tell you before Damon dropped it on you in some typically inappropriate way."

"No, I'm happy that you told me," Elena said. "I just - I really hope that it's not true. What am I supposed to do? Do I just confront him and say "Are you my biological father?"

"Well, I guess when you're ready," Stefan said.

"I'm never gonna be ready."

"Play dumb," Rebecca said. "Pretend you don't know anything."

"No, it's just . . . I have enough problems with the family that I actually care about. Jeremy hates me, and why wouldn't he? My journal gave him every reason to."

"Yeah, about that," Rebecca said, becoming distracted with a new topic. "Why do you write about _that_ in your diary? Anybody could read it. Hence your problem with Jeremy."

Both Stefan and Elena glared at her and she honestly didn't know what they were staring at.

"What?"

Stefan shook his head and said, "Nothing. You just . . . when you were human you had no problem speaking your mind and letting people know what you thought about certain things they did. That's magnified now."

Stefan turned his attention back to Elena and said, "Jeremy's hurt, he's confused."

"He's never gonna forgive me for Vicki. For taking away his memory, for lying to him."

"He's your brother," Stefan said. "He'll forgive you."

_Says the guy who's got a brother who hates him again for killing his girlfriend, _Rebecca thought.

"Just give him some time," Stefan said.

"Like 145 years worth of time?" Rebecca asked.

"Rebecca . . ." Stefan said warningly. "You're being difficult on purpose."

Rebecca smiled cheesily. "Yes, I am."

A few minutes later Jeremy walked by. He'd sort of appeared out of nowhere so Rebecca assumed that Anna had brought him here.

"Hey! I was wondering where you were," Elena said. "You look great."

Jeremy was wearing an old Confederate uniform. It was dirty, but it fit him. He was only fifteen, but it still fit him.

"You guys did a really great job on the float."

"Go away, Elena," Jeremy said.

"Jeremy, come on, please. I don't want it to be like this between us."

Elena followed Jeremy, but Rebecca and Stefan stayed put. They were going to eavesdrop.

"Then why don't you get Damon to erase my memories again? Then I could go back to being your in-the-dark little brother."

"Jer, please."

Rebecca watched as Jeremy began walking away from Elena, but the brunette grabbed his arm.

"Elena, just don't. You can't fix this that easily. Something like this doesn't just . . . get fixed."

This time Elena just let Jeremy go. There really wasn't much she could to. Rebecca wanted to go over there and say she'd _told_ Elena how it would end if she got Damon to erase Jeremy's memories, but she wasn't that mean.

Carol Lockwood came to tell Elena to head to the float and Stefan made his way to his girlfriend.

* * *

Rebecca found Damon in the crowd and went to stand with him. She was, again, thankful for the necklace that allowed her to walk in the sun. She couldn't have been here otherwise. Though, truthfully, she was getting annoyed by all the noise from the marching band. And she was getting hungry. Being in a crowd wasn't helping things at all. All these people, and her wanting to feed . . . not a good combination.

The float that Tyler had been in charge of, the one that was a reenactment of the Battle of Willow Creek, went by with Tyler and Jeremy on it. Then came the float that held Elena and Stefan, Caroline and Matt, along with the other Miss Mystic Falls candidates and their escorts.

Caroline was wearing a poofy yellow dress; Elena was in her green dress; the other two runner ups were in white. Caroline was totally soaking up the attention. Rebecca thought this was good for the blond. She would be less apt to feel second best now.

Elena was waving at the crowd, and at specific people; Rebecca, Damon, and Bonnie specifically. Bonnie had stopped behind Damon and Rebecca.

When Damon looked at Bonnie, she said. "What d'you want?"

"Just watchin' the parade."

Bonnie didn't smile or blink. She just turned to walk away.

"Where're you going?" Damon asked.

"Away from you."

"Wait. I wanna say somethin' to you."

"Just leave me alone."

"Thank you," Damon said.

Rebecca looked at Damon; he was being sincere.

"The device that Emily spelled could've killed me," Damon said. "I don't take what you did lightly, so . . . Thank you."

Rebecca didn't say it, but she was really proud of Damon. She knew he hadn't agreed with de-spelling the device just so they could give it to Isobel so she could give it to John, and yet here he was thanking her anyway. Because the device could've been used to hurt Damon and her and Stefan. Bonnie had deactivated it, though, rendering it useless.

"I did it for Elena," Bonnie said, watching Damon closely, like she was waiting for the punchline of a very bad joke.

"I know that, but I'm still very grateful. And I owe you."

Damon was being very sincere and he didn't even seem uncomfortable about it. This was how Damon would've acted, Rebecca was fairly certain, if he'd been human at the moment. This was the reason she had fallen for him to begin with back in 1864.

Bonnie was still looking at him as if she didn't know him. Damon, though, wasn't joking at all.

"Enjoy the parade," Damon said.

Rebecca felt his hand on her back and she turned where Damon directed her to go. When they were together but away from Bonnie, she grabbed Damon's hand and squeezed. She turned to him and smiled before kissing his cheek.

"I love you," she whispered in his ear. "Very, _very_ much."

Damon gave an almost imperceptible nod and smiled softly.

Jokingly, Rebecca nipped his ear. "Is it bad that watching you do that made me want you?"

Damon rolled his eyes. "Out of all the things I do that could make you want me . . . _that_ turns you on?"

"Yup." More seriously now, she said, "Damon, I'm hungry."

Damon looked around and realized that there was no lack of people to choose from.

"You want to fresh feed?" he asked softly. "I can show you how."

Damon watched Rebecca bite her lip and nod hesitantly. Damon knew what was going through her mind. She didn't want to kill anyone or hurt anyone, but this was the only way she'd be able to feed now. And she needed to learn some time.

"Okay, but don't let me hurt anyone, okay?"

"I promise," he reassured. "Now pick someone."

Well, she couldn't drink from Jeremy or Matt and she didn't want to drink from Tyler. Besides, all three were on floats.

She then thought about Ric and his nifty little come-back-to-life ring. But no . . . Ric was sort of her friend, and she wouldn't eat her friends. Well, unless they were willing; that would be a different story.

Damon watched her scan the crowd, and her eyes stopped on a young woman, twenty-something. She was already wearing a scarf, so they wouldn't have to worry about that little detail.

Damon went up to the woman, compelled her to follow him to the alleyway by the Grill. Rebecca was waiting there for him.

"What is this?" the woman asked.

"Never you mind. You won't remember this after we're done," Damon said, still compelling her.

He gave Rebecca the go-ahead and watched as Rebecca took the scarf off of the woman. Rebecca's eyes were glued to the woman's neck.

"Nice and easy," Damon said, while also keeping an ear out for anyone who might happen by.

Damon had to watch Rebecca closely. This was her first time feeding from an actual person. Her instincts would make her go straight for the carotid artery, but that would kill this woman. Rebecca didn't have the experience of controlling blood flow, so it was best to stay away from any main veins or arteries.

Once Damon showed Rebecca _where_ to bite, Rebecca was able to bite without much fear of killing the woman she was drinking from. It tasted as good at it did the first time, maybe even better this time because it was fresh. But Rebecca couldn't let herself focus on how good the blood tasted; she wouldn't be able to stop if she did.

* * *

After Rebecca was satisfied - or at least satisfied enough to be able to control her hunger in a crowd - she compelled the woman to go home and rest. Take vitamins, drink orange juice.

"You're a terrible vampire," Damon said, and Rebecca shrugged.

Rebecca and Damon made their way to the Grill - Rebecca was clean as far as her face and clothes went, but she needed to wash her mouth out to be sure someone wouldn't see red if she happened to speak.

Elena was coming out of the girls bathroom as Rebecca went in. Elena was no longer in her 1864 dress.

"I like you better like this," Damon said. "Period look, it didn't suit you."

"Is that an insult?" Elena asked.

"Actually, Elena, it is a compliment of the highest order."

Elena smiled and shook her head. "Look . . . I know Stefan is worried about our . . . friendship."

Well, that was a lead in if there ever was one . . .

"Did he say something to you too?" Damon asked.

"No." Elena became serious. "Did he mention something to you?"

"No. Nothing worth repeating."

The brunette looked past Damon and he followed her gaze. Jeremy was sitting at a table eating French fries.

"Damon, I have to go, but what I was going to say was I know Stefan's worried about our friendship, so . . . let's try to ease his mind. Don't make me regret being your friend, okay?"

Those were some of the more sincere words Elena had said to him. He nodded because he hadn't been lying when he'd told Stefan that he considered Elena to be a very good friend.

Elena touched Damon's arm when she walked away, and he watched her go over to Jeremy.

_"I don't believe that we can't fix this_," the brunette said when she reached her brother. _"I lied, I was wrong. But you're my brother, Jer, and I love you, and I have to fix it. So just tell me, what can I do?"_

Damon noticed that Jeremy looked his way before looking back at his sister. _"You can go to hell, Elena_."

Jeremy got up, walked away from Elena and past Damon. Damon followed the juvenile with his eyes. He really didn't understand why Jeremy was giving Elena such a hard time. Elena hadn't been the one to take away his memories. She'd only requested it.

Without much thought, Damon began following the youngest Gilbert. Once outside, he started walking right behind Jeremy.

"I have so many emotions, but I don't have any way to express them," Damon mocked the teen. "Being a teenager is so hard."

"Dick."

"_You_ do not talk to me like that. I'm not your sister. And from now on -" Damon jerked Jeremy around so they would be face to face "- don't talk to your sister that way either."

"So, what? Are you gonna kill me just because I hurt Elena's feelings?"

"Cut her some slack."

"She erased my memories."

"No, I did. She was protecting you."

Damon was silent for a moment, hoping he was getting through to the kid. But it wasn't to be, it seemed.

"That wasn't her call to make," Jeremy said, turning around.

Damon grabbed his arm again. God, why was Rebecca friends with this idiot?

"Let go of me before I cause a scene," Jeremy threatened.

"You'd be unconscious before you even got a word out."

To give Jeremy credit . . . the kid didn't flinch. Then Stefan appeared out of nowhere.

"Let him go."

Damon rolled his eyes, but let the kid go anyway.

"What my brother is trying to say is don't blame Elena for this. Damon's blood turned Vicki. I killed her. She was a threat to you and she was a threat to your sister. I'm sorry that it happened and I wish that it hadn't."

"You shouldn't have made me forget."

Damon watched Jeremy walk away thinking that his attempt to help Elena get back in her brother's good graces hadn't gone as planned.

"What're you doin'?" Stefan asked him.

"He's bein' a punk," Damon said.

"Elena's relationship with her brother is none of your business, so stay out of it."

"Oh, there's only one do-gooder hero role available. My bad. I'm sorry," Damon said, laughing sarcastically.

"Get over yourself. We both know that you're not doing this for the right reasons."

"Then what _are_ the right reasons, Stefan. Enlighten me, please." Damon crossed his arms over his chest defensively.

"See, Damon . . . it's only real when it come from your desire to do the right thing, for nothing in return."

"Right," Damon agreed.

"And I know that is an entirely foreign concept to you. I completely understand why you wouldn't get it."

Stefan gave him a smug grin. Damon was sure Stefan had learned that from him. Before Stefan could walk away happy, Damon grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and leaned in close.

"Before you get all righteous . . . let's not forget who killed my girlfriend, yeah?"

The grin faded from Stefan's face, and Damon pushed him away roughly. Just because he and his brother had worked together on the Isobel thing didn't mean things were okay between them. Things weren't okay on an epic scale. Rebecca may have been able to forgive Stefan, but Damon wasn't as understanding.

* * *

After Rebecca had made herself presentable - meaning she got the blood out of her mouth - she went in search of anyone she knew. Bonnie was at a table with Elena and Caroline; Tyler was playing pool with a few of the football players, and Rebecca didn't know where Matt was. Maybe changing back into present day clothes.

Ric was at the bar and he nodded her way when she waved. Rebecca smiled when she saw Jenna beside him. They must've just ordered something and were now waiting for their food.

Rebecca went to the table her friends were seated around and took a seat herself.

"You guys looked great up on the float," she said to Elena and Caroline.

Caroline gushed and Elena smiled softly.

"Where's Damon?" Bonnie asked.

Rebecca shrugged. "Around. Somewhere. We're not attached at the hip, you know."

* * *

Meanwhile, Damon was contemplating who to annoy to make himself feel better. It was getting dark now and many people were gathering on the grass in the town square. There was going to be a fireworks display around nine that night. The mayor would do a speech and then the fireworks would start.

Damon suddenly felt a presence behind him so he turned around. Anna was there.

"You're still around?" Damon asked. He'd thought that since her mother had been killed that she would've been long gone.

Anna looked around, grabbed his arm and began leading him away from the crowd.

"There's something you need to know. The vampires from the tomb are planning an attack tonight."

"How do you know this?"

"I went to them. They think I'm with them, but I'm not. They want the founding families dead."

Elena, Jeremy, Tyler, and his parents, Caroline and her mom, the Fells. A lot of Rebecca's friends. Damon didn't know if Rebecca herself counted as a Founding family member, because her mom had given up the legacy when she'd married Robert, but Damon wasn't going to chance it.

"When is this supposed to happen?"

"When the fireworks start."

"John Gilbert wants to use that invention on 'em," Damon said. It made sense; if John knew all the vampires were going to be in the same spot, what better way to take them out at once.

"Then we can't be here," Anna said.

"It doesn't work. It's been deactivated," Damon assured her.

"Well, then a lot of people are gonna die."

"I'm aware." Damon wasn't going to let this happen, not to his town and not to his humans. Because that's what Damon had come to think of them as. His. "Where are they right now?"

"They're already here, Damon. And they're dressed as civilians, so . . . it'll be hard to separate them from the rest."

"Damn it."

Damon got his phone out of his pocket and called Ric's number.

"Yeah?"

"You keep those nifty little vamp weapons in your car?"

"Yeah. Why do you ask?"

"Because the square is crawling with tomb vampires. I think we might need a stake or two."

"Yeah. Got it."

"Go. I'll find you."

* * *

"Excuse me, Rebecca, may I borrow you for a minute?" Rebecca looked up at the familiar male voice and saw Alaric Saltzman.

"Sure. More than a minute, even," she replied, smiling. "I'll be back, guys."

Ric placed a hand on her back and led her to the least crowded place in the Grill.

"What's up?"

"Damon just called me. He said the tomb vampires are here. I'm going to get my weapons from the car. Wanna join?"

"Of course. You don't even have to ask."

Rebecca was finally getting the chance to get back at them for kidnapping her and torturing her and almost killing her.

"Okay . . . I'm gonna call my dad and tell him to get Chelsea out of here. Uh . . ."

Before she called her dad she texted Stefan telling him to get his ass to the Grill so he could get Elena home. She wasn't too worried about Bonnie; Bonnie could hold her own. Caroline was with Matt, who had been changing like Rebecca had earlier thought. Tyler was still playing pool. Jeremy was missing. Maybe she would call him too. Or not. Elena would take care of that. She wouldn't leave Jeremy here once she knew there was danger.

"Come on. I'll call my dad as we walk."

* * *

Across town, in the old doctor's office, Damon was confronting John Gilbert. Whatever happened, whoever got hurt, it would be on John.

John was doing something with the device, Damon didn't know what. He could hear the mayor making his speech and then the fireworks. Whatever was going to happen . . . it was happening now.

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Damon asked, and John turned to him.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do."

John turned back to the device and fiddled with it again. It looked like he was putting another piece in it. And like _that_ Damon's head was filled with screeching. Like nails on a chalkboard. Then the pain started. His brain was on fire and it was being stabbed, that was what it felt like.

He was aware of someone screaming; it took him a few seconds to realize it was him doing the screaming. A few seconds later, the pain stopped but was replaced by another pain. John had filled him with vervain.

Before Damon passed out he realized Rebecca's dream had come true. Or was about to come true. John was trying to kill all the vampires, and Bonnie hadn't deactivated the Gilbert device.

They were all going do die.

* * *

Meanwhile, Rebecca had been with Ric at his car waiting for Damon to show up. All of a sudden an intense pain filled her head. The worst migraine known to man multiplied by infinity.

She grasped her head in both hands and almost fell to her knees.

"Whoa!" Ric said, catching her. "Rebecca? What's going on? What's happening?"

"My head." Rebecca groaned and screamed. "Please make it stop!"

Ric didn't know what was happening, but it wasn't only Rebecca it was happening to. Other people were falling down and then being stuck with needles - vampires were being dosed with vervain.

Well, the tomb vampires deserved to be dealt with, but Rebecca hadn't hurt anyone. She hadn't had a choice in whether or not she'd become a vampire.

"God, what's that noise?" Rebecca yelled.

Ric knew if she didn't quiet down someone would come for her. He had to get her out of there. Ric grabbed her up and held her head against his chest to muffle her screams. He helped her into his car and just held her for a minute. Her screaming didn't cease. He knew the merciful thing would've been to knock her out - he had a dart full of vervain so it could be done - but he would need her to help find the others once everything had quieted down.

"Rebecca, hey, you need to calm down. If they hear you, they'll come."

Rebecca clenched her mouth shut and that was when Ric got a stupid but brilliant idea. He put his wrist to her mouth and nodded when she looked at him.

"Go ahead."

Ric didn't know why, but he trusted this girl not to kill him. He may have had a come-back-to-life ring, but he would never have to worry about using it with her.

"Vervain?" she said through clenched teeth.

"I don't ingest it."

Ric watched her face change and felt a small pain when her fangs entered his flesh. Then there was a small pleasure when she began to suck. It was the pleasure he imagined mothers had when they fed their baby from their breasts. The pleasure of giving, nourishing.

Rebecca had her fangs in Ric's wrist for maybe thirty seconds and then she let go. She no longer seemed to be in any pain.

"Good?" he asked.

"Tasty," she said, smiling softly. "I'm fine now. But -"

"Stefan and Damon. I know."

* * *

Rebecca couldn't stop thinking about what Ric had done for her. He seemed to keep saving her life - or keep helping to save her life. That one night at the park; the tomb vampires; Chase; and now this. He'd literally put his life in her hands.

He'd trusted her enough to let her bite him just so she'd keep quiet, so she wouldn't be caught.

They found Stefan and Elena in a back alley and Elena seemed worried. "He just dropped," the brunette said.

"He's not the only one," Ric said. "Cops are grabbing everyone who's gone down. Injecting them with vervain."

"They're rounding up the vampires," Rebecca said. "John. He's doing this, this is his fault."

"Are you okay?" Elena asked Stefan.

"It's like needles were piercing my skull and then it just stopped," Stefan said.

"I saw at least five vampires go down," Ric said. "They're takin' 'am to your family's old building."

"My dad's office?" Elena asked, and Ric nodded.

"It's the Gilbert device. It has to be," Stefan said.

"But how did he get it to work? Bonnie unspelled it."

"Or maybe she didn't," Ric said.

_I couldn't do what she wanted me to do. And when Elena finds out, she's never gonna forgive me_.

"Bonnie!" Rebecca muttered, feeling a little piece of her heart break.

"No, we saw her do it," Elena said.

"No, they're right. Think about it," Stefan said. "We asked her to deactivate a device that protects people against vampires."

Rebecca felt a rage at her supposed friend. Bonnie had lied to them. Made them think she had taken the spell off of the device when she hadn't. And now . . .

"Where's Damon?" Stefan asked.

"I don't know," Ric said. "I haven't seen him since this started. He was supposed to meet me at my car but he never showed."

"You said they were taking the vampires to the doctor's office?" Rebecca asked, and Ric nodded. "I'm going. We have to hurry."

"Can you find my brother?" Elena asked Ric. "Take him home?"

"Of course."

Elena nodded. "Let's go."

* * *

At the office and in the basement, Damon came to hearing the annoying voice of John Gilbert. Damon could barely move, and when he did it was very slow.

"The device is done. The only thing keeping them down is the vervain. We don't have much time. Let's finish this."

Damon heard a splashing noise and looked for the source of the sound. Someone was pouring gasoline on the floor over the bodies. The vampires had been rounded up. John and another guy were the ones pouring gasoline everywhere. Suddenly a hand shot out and grabbed John's ankle.

Anna. She'd been caught too. Damon did a quick once over and was relieved that Rebecca hadn't been caught.

John turned to his partner. "You can head up. I'll take it from here." The man listened and left.

Anna tried to get up but couldn't, and all Damon could do was watch. John took out a stake and stood above the girl. Anna shook her head. Damon knew the girl was trying to move; he also knew she couldn't. The vervain was too heavy in her system.

Damon felt the need to do something, help her in some way, but he couldn't move either. He watched, helpless to do anything, as John shoved the stake into Anna's heart.

John poured more gasoline as he walked up the stairs, leaving a trail behind him, and out the door. Then suddenly the place was on fire. A few people who had been directly in its path started screaming.

Damon forced himself to roll over, away from the flames, which brought him closer to more people, including the mayor.

"Mayor. Is that you?"

"What're you doin' here?" the mayor asked.

The mayor was bleeding from his ears. The man had obviously heard what Damon had heard. But the mayor wasn't a vampire - what was he?

"I'm a vampire," Damon said. "What's your excuse?"

The mayor backed away fearfully from Damon even though, had Damon wanted the man dead, he could've killed him at any time.

"No, really. The vervain didn't affect you. You're not a vampire, so what the hell are you?"

The mayor had backed into another vampire and this one did want him dead. Within seconds the Mayor's neck was broken.

The flames were getting closer and closer to Damon. The heat was intense; it felt like he was burning already. Damon was going to die here. He was thankful that Stefan and Rebecca weren't here with him.

* * *

Outside the office building Rebecca , Elena, and Stefan were confronting John Gilbert. As soon as they had gotten close enough to the building Rebecca and Stefan had been able to hear the flames.

_God, my dream_, Rebecca thought. _It's happening for real_.

"Damon!" she said. "Damon's in there."

"How d'you know?" Stefan asked.

"I know. I know," Rebecca repeated. She looked at John with hatred. "You did this."

"It's over for Damon."

"No."

"You're crazy," Elena said.

"Why?" John countered. "Because I'm doing what should've been done 145 years ago? This is the _right thing_, Elena."

Both Stefan and Rebecca had been fidgeting, both had been inching toward the building.

"Go ahead," John said. "You won't make it out. You'll save me the trouble of killing you myself."

Before Rebecca could stop herself she had punched John in the face. Neither Stefan nor Elena had stopped her.

"You know the building well, is there another entrance?" Stefan asked Elena.

"A utility door. There's one around the side."

Rebecca and Stefan took off and reached the door Elena had mentioned. Stefan opened the door and Rebecca was right behind him.

"Hey! You can't go in there!"

Rebecca didn't know where Bonnie had come from and she didn't really care. She didn't even want to see her right now.

"The fire will take you out."

"He's my brother, Bonnie," Stefan said.

While Stefan had stopped to say that, Rebecca had made it to the actual basement door and had burnt her hand on the door knob. She's yanked back at first but then had forced herself to open the door anyway.

Stefan pulled her back as fire came to life because of the oxygen. Fire was on the staircase.

"How're we supposed to get down?" Rebecca asked.

Then, as if on cue, the flames died down. Like magic. Bonnie. She was making up for lying to them.

Then Stefan and Rebecca raced downstairs and saw Damon; he was on all fours trying to get up.

"Damon!" Rebecca said, reaching him first. "Come on."

She helped him up. She was on one side; Stefan was on the other.

"Run," Stefan said.

As soon as they made it upstairs the fire came back to life.

"Oh, God. Oh, my God!"

Bonnie was no longer standing there in the alleyway, but John was. He was there to make sure they only rescued Damon, probably.

Rebecca let go of Damon so Stefan could get him out of there - it was a little hard matching pace with Stefan because he was slower than she was.

"This is the second time you've been part of a plan to take someone I love from me," she said, walking up to John.

The door to the basement was still open and Rebecca could still feel the heat from the fire. She began to stalk John, backing him toward the door.

"I understand what you were trying to do," she said softly. "I do. But you never should've tried to hurt Damon. That was your mistake."

Seeing that he was right where she wanted him to be, she grabbed his head and twisted hard enough to make his neck snap. Before he could hit the ground she caught him. She felt a little pang go through her at the thought of her killing someone, but what really got her was that she was going to keep him dead. He had a ring like Ric did; this could easily be fixed. But before she could change her mind, she grabbed the ring off of his finger and tossed him into the burning basement.

If she had really wanted him to suffer she could've left the ring on his finger so he'd wake up on fire and then die again. But she didn't want him to suffer, she just wanted him dead.

When she reached Damon, who could barely stand, Bonnie was there holding onto Elena's arm. Elena had probably been trying to get to Stefan, and Bonnie was keeping her in place.

Rebecca wasn't sure how she felt about Bonnie's betrayal. It wasn't that Bonnie hadn't taken the spell off of the device, it was that she had lied to them about it. If Bonnie had just . . . told them that the device was still active, none of this would've happened. Rebecca, Stefan, and Damon would've known to get the hell away from the town square before the device was activated. Damon wouldn't have almost died and . . .

But, on the other hand, Rebecca completely understood where Bonnie was coming from. If anything had happened to Damon Rebecca may have never forgiven Bonnie, but she understood why Bonnie hadn't deactivated the device. The tomb vampires were now dead because of it.

One good thing had come of this horrible situation, at least.

"Damon, are you okay?" Rebecca asked. "God, you could've died tonight! I don't know what I would've done if -"

Even though Damon had been the one to be stuck in the burning building, Rebecca was the one who had tears running down her face. Damon could've died, but here he was comforting her.

"Hey, I'm okay." Damon grabbed her, cupping her cheeks and bringing her closer. "I'm okay. Nothing a few blood bags won't cure."

"Yeah?"

Stefan broke into their little world and said, "We need to go. Someone called the cops, the fireman will show up soon. We can't be here."

* * *

Okay, so as we see in this chapter, I have no problem killing a character that I find useless or if I can get around without him in the future.

Let me know what you think.


	59. Chapter 54

Chapter Fifty-Four

Like Stefan had said, the firemen did show up. Elena had been called to come to the building anyway because the building had belonged to her father. Stefan had gone with her, and Damon and Rebecca had gone to the boardinghouse. It was because Damon was in desperate need of blood and, with so many officials around, he couldn't just pick a person at random and start feeding from them.

Damon seemed a little restless while he was gulping down the blood he needed to heal.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Rebecca asked.

If Rebecca was being completely honest with herself, _she_ wasn't okay. Damon had almost died that night. She didn't know what she would've done had Damon actually died. She would've been stuck here without him.

"I'm fine, Becca," Damon said. "I'm fine. I promise."

Damon didn't seem fine, though, because he couldn't seem to sit still. He was pacing the length of his room.

"If you're fine then why do you look like a caged animal that needs to get free?"

"I, uh . . ." Damon seemed a little uncomfortable. Rebecca didn't like it. "I have to do something."

Rebecca didn't understand what Damon had to do but whatever it was . . . Damon obviously didn't want to talk about it because he just took off. That was okay because she had something she had to do too.

* * *

Damon ended up at the Gilbert residence. Someone had to tell Jeremy about Anna, and seeing as to how Damon was the only one who knew about her, he got stuck with the job. Plus, Damon had needed space to think. Stefan had been calling him and texting him, wondering where he was. Damon guessed that meant that Rebecca hadn't stuck around the boardinghouse and that Stefan wanted to know where everyone was. Other than giving a very brief text back, Damon had ignored his brother.

Stefan had helped save his life that night. Rebecca had helped save him, and so had Bonnie in her own way. Damon had been so sure he'd been going to die, and yet here he was. Trying to do the right thing. What was wrong with him?

He sneaked in the front door and up to Elena's room. Elena wasn't home, but he could hear Jeremy moving around in the next room over. Elena's and Jeremy's rooms were connected by a bathroom, so Damon used that bathroom to get to the teen's room.

Jeremy had been fiddling with one of his dresser drawers but seemed to sense Damon's presence, because he snapped around.

"What're you doin' here?" Jeremy asked breathlessly.

"Anna's dead," Damon said cautiously yet straightforwardly. He never was one for beating around the bush.

"I figured that once they took her away," Jeremy said quietly, sadly.

Damon assumed that meant that Jeremy had been with Anna when the device had gone off. Damon wondered if Jeremy understood what had happened.

"I know you cared about her," Damon said.

"Yeah, I did."

"I saw her killed." Damon didn't really know why he was here talking to Jeremy, but . . . he was. Something had happened that night inside him. Something had changed when he'd seen John stake Anna, when Damon had been helpless to do anything. "I was watching and all I could think about was - I wanted to help her. But I couldn't."

"Why're you telling me all this?" Jeremy asked.

For a few seconds Damon was at a loss for words. Damon didn't usually talk so openly to anyone that wasn't Rebecca, so he really didn't know why he was doing it now.

"I took away your suffering once before. I can do it again." Damon moved further into the room and Jeremy sat on the edge of his bed. "But it's your choice."

Jeremy shook his head. "Look, I know you think you took it away, but it's still there, Even if I can't remember why, I still feel empty. Alone. And making me forget won't fix it. It won't fix what's really wrong."

Vicki had died. Someone that Jeremy had cared about had suddenly been taken away from him and Damon understood how that felt. Jeremy would feel alone and empty if someone he had cared about had died; compulsion couldn't make someone feel genuine emotions, it could only make one _think_ one was feeling an emotion.

"What happened to Vicki should never have happened," Damon admitted. "And I'm sorry for my part in her death."

Jeremy nodded after a few seconds. Damon was being sincere. Damon wasn't sorry for feeding from Vicki. He'd been locked up for days and hadn't had any blood. He hadn't been able to help himself. But he was sorry about the consequences of what had happened because of him feeding from her.

"Anna said that vampires don't have to feel pain. That they can turn it off if they shut out their humanity."

"That's very true."

"Is it easier that way?" Jeremy asked.

"Is what easier?" Damon asked, confused.

"Life."

"Life sucks either way, Jeremy. But at least if you're a vampire, you don't have to feel bad about it if you don't want to."

"Is that what you did?"

"I did it for . . . I did it for a very long time," Damon admitted, his voice beginning to shake. "And life was a _lot_ easier."

Damon watched the kid blink a few times and turn away. "Thanks for coming to tell me instead of just letting me keep wondering."

"Yeah," Damon said. "Someone had to do it. Since I was there, it . . . automatically made sense that I should be the one to tell you."

Jeremy nodded. "Well, I appreciate it. It's better than not knowing."

Damon gave him a nod back before leaving the room and the very uncomfortable situation he had gotten himself into.

* * *

Meanwhile, Rebecca found herself at Ric's apartment door, knocking. She knew he was in there because she could hear Ric's heartbeat.

When Ric opened the door he seemed surprised to see her there.

"Hi," she said. "May I come in?"

"Sure. Make yourself at home."

Rebecca smiled softly. "Thanks."

Rebecca really was thankful. Ric knew what she was and he still invited her in. Once again he had proven he trusted her by accepting everything about her.

"Um, I came to tell you that I'm really grateful for what you did. You keep saving my life. You know what I am and you still save me. I'm here to thank you."

Ric accepted her thanks with grace but still flushed a bit. Rebecca smiled. She hadn't made many men blush. Human Damon had. She'd yet to affect vampire Damon that way.

"Is your wrist okay? I hope I didn't bite too hard or -"

"My wrist is fine. It doesn't even hurt."

"Really?"

Rebecca hoped that was true because she really hadn't wanted to hurt Ric. It didn't matter if he could come back to life, she didn't hurt her friends. Tonight had been proof that Ric cared about her, probably in a parental way, or a brotherly way.

"Really, I'm fine. You did some weird little trick and it barely even hurt when you were drinking from me."

"Right." Rebecca was the one to blush this time. "Uh, Damon taught me that. I hope that didn't freak you out. A bite can turn sexual when a vampire does that, but I didn't want to hurt you because you've been so nice and you helped me when you didn't have to."

Rebecca realized she was rambling, but she needed him to know that if he'd felt any . . . stirrings . . . that it was completely normal. He shouldn't read much into it because she'd _made_ him feel that way.

"Rebecca! Really, I'm okay with how everything happened. And you don't have to explain, okay?"

Rebecca was going to protest but her phone rang and interrupted her thoughts. The caller ID screen said _Elena_.

"Yeah?"

"Hey. The fire's out. The story is that the building's old wiring is what caused it."

Rebecca's stomach suddenly had really bad rumblings. John Gilbert, Elena's dad/uncle - or whatever - had died in that fire. No, Rebecca had killed John and pushed him down the stairs into the fire. And nobody knew except for maybe Stefan and Damon - assuming they had heard her conversation. Stefan wouldn't be able to keep this a secret for long, so Elena would know soon and so would Bonnie and Jeremy. They were soon going to hate her.

"I'm glad you're okay. You and Damon," Elena said.

"Yeah, me too," Rebecca said.

"Uh, Jenna called. Jeremy's home. I'm just gonna run over to the school to pick up my dress, my clothes, and the rest of my stuff, and then I'll check on him."

Rebecca nodded and bit her lip. "Anna died, Elena, so stay up with him, okay? He's . . . he keeps losing people he loves. He's - he shouldn't be alone."

Rebecca would've been with Jeremy herself if she hadn't wanted to check on Ric. Maybe she would head over there anyway, after this. She'd said all she needed to say to Ric anyway.

* * *

At the Gilbert residence, Damon was on his way out and Elena was on her way in. She had her dress bag in her arms and she had changed into her leather jacket. In fact, she had different clothes on all together - probably so she wouldn't smell like smoke.

"What're you doin' here?" she asked as he closed the door.

"A failed and feeble attempt at doing the right thing," he answered.

"Which was . . . ?" Elena asked curiously.

"It's not important," Damon said, remembering Stefan's words about it only counting when he wanted nothing in return. Well, if she didn't know what he'd been doing, he couldn't ask for anything in return.

Damon went to Elena and said, "Let me take this for you."

Elena let him take the dress bag and purse from her arms so they could talk for a while longer. He walked over to the porch bench and sat the stuff down.

"Thank you," Elena said, though she sounded surprised.

"You know, I came to this town not caring about anyone but Rebecca, and tonight I found myself wanting to protect it."

Elena cocked her head and tilted her lips upwards into a small smile.

"How does that happen?" Damon asked. "I'm not a hero, Elena. I don't do good. It's not in me."

"Maybe it is," Elena said softly. "Rebecca seems to think so."

"No. No, that's reserved for my brother and you and Rebecca and Bonnie. She hates me, but she still helped Stefan save me."

Elena crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Why do you sound so surprised?"

"Because she did it for you. Which means that somewhere along the way . . . you decided that I was worth saving. And I wanted to thank you for that."

Elena grinned. "You're welcome."

Damon was fairly certain that Elena was looking at his lips, which meant in a universal language that she was thinking about kissing him. Well, there was only one way he could get out of this without making things awkward, and that was . . . find a reason to leave. He couldn't help but notice that Elena's body had tensed. And she was still looking at his lips. There was definite desire in Elena's eyes.

Elena's breathing grew shallow and her hand came up to grip his jacket to pull him closer. Damon couldn't believe what Elena was doing, and after all that talk about never betraying Rebecca in this way.

"Elena . . ." Damon cupped her face and said as gently as he could, "No."

Elena blinked. "No?"

"No," Damon said, more firmly this time. "I will _not_ let this happen. I'm not going to let you ruin what I have with Rebecca."

Damon heard the door open and saw Jenna standing there, eyes open in shock.

"Hi," Elena said, breathlessly.

"It's late. You should probably come inside," Jenna said, glaring at her niece.

Elena took a deep breath, nodded, looked at Damon, and then got her stuff and went inside. All the while Jenna had been staring at Damon, contemplating. Damon could _feel_ the judgment coming off of her.

"What're you doing?" Damon heard Jenna ask after she had closed the door.

"I . . . don't want to talk about it,:" Elena said.

Damon was at a loss for words. Elena Gilbert, one of Rebecca's friends, had almost kissed him. She would have had he not stopped her. Maybe he and everyone else had been wrong about Elena. She was just like Katherine; she wanted both brothers.

Elena was supposed to be in love with Stefan and yet she'd tried to kiss Damon. Damon wondered if Rebecca knew what a backstabbing little bitch Elena was.

All the recent phone calls and all the playful banter between Elena and himself made sense now. She'd been flirting with him. And the Miss Mystic Fells pageant hadn't been a harmless dance and dinner. It had been a date - it had been a way for Elena to try and get her claws into him.

Damon had made it clear that nothing was going to come between him and Rebecca. Especially not another woman and definitely not another woman who would steal her friend's boyfriend.

* * *

Rebecca wound up _not_ going to Elena's house to check on Jeremy. She had wanted to, she _had_ but she'd gotten a very disturbing phone call from Matt Donovan saying that Caroline was in the hospital. Matt and Caroline had been getting rides home from Tyler, and then Tyler had suddenly heard a weird noise that neither Matt nor Caroline could hear.

_The Gilbert device,_ Rebecca thought. It had affected Tyler too. How was that possible? Tyler wasn't a vampire.

Rebecca had dropped everything when she'd heard Matt and Caroline had been in a car crash with Tyler at the wheel. Matt was fine, but Tyler had been unconscious and Caroline had been admitted because she'd fainted. Matt said that most of the damage had been on her side of the car. She was in surgery right now.

Rebecca hadn't left Matt's side since she'd arrived, but she had called Elena and Bonnie and everyone else that would care that Caroline was in the hospital.

Rebecca even called Damon - she didn't get him, she got voice-mail - and left a message. Damon wouldn't care so much for Caroline's sake as he would for Liz's - for some reason, Damon genuinely cared for Sheriff Forbes.

Tyler was finally released because he was okay - the impact had just knocked him out.

"Hey," Tyler said, sitting down by Matt. "I'm _so_ sorry. Look, I don't even know what happened."

"It's okay, man," Matt said, understanding coating his voice.

Matt's voice was thick because he'd been crying; he even had remnants of tears on his face. It made Rebecca's heart ache.

"She'll be alright," Matt said.

Tyler nodded, but looked down guiltily.

"Hey," Rebecca said, getting up and kneeling down in front of Tyler. "This isn't your fault. None of it, okay?"

This was Bonnie's fault. She never should have lied about taking that damn spell off of the device. Because she had Damon had almost died, Anna _had_ died, and Caroline was in the hospital.

And again the question became how had Tyler heard the vampire device - it was supposed to have been a weapon against _vampires_ yet it appeared to have affected Tyler the same way.

The noise and the brain-piercing pain.

Suddenly Liz came out from the Emergency Room and Matt stood up. Rebecca did too.

"What's happening? Is she alright?" Matt asked.

"Uh . . . there was some internal bleeding. She's still in surgery."

"What else did they say? Is she gonna be okay?"

"They're gonna do everything they can," Liz said.

Rebecca had never seen Matt or Liz so shaken up. Tyler was refusing to look up; he still felt guilty. Matt sat down, defeated. Rebecca sat beside him. She felt awful.

She grabbed one of Matt's hands and one of Tyler's hands. They both needed her right now. Even if Rebecca hadn't had much use for Tyler, he didn't deserve to be alone in this.

"Tyler, have you talked to your mom?" Liz asked.

"I left her a message telling her I was here."

"You need to call her."

Tyler's eyes narrowed. "What is it?"

"It's your dad," Liz said, her voice breaking.

Rebecca felt Tyler's hand tighten on hers. She saw him nod and move to get up.

_Of course_, Rebecca thought. If Tyler had been affected, then Mayor Lockwood would've been too.

Add it to the growing list of things that had gone wrong because Bonnie had lied.

"Becca!" a female voice said. Speaking of the witch . . . here she was. "Oh, my God. I came as soon as I got your message."

Rebecca kind of regretted calling her now that she knew this was Bonnie's fault. Bonnie had come in with Stefan. Stefan, who had helped save Damon. That almost made Rebecca like him again.

"Hey, uh, Elena's not here yet," she said for Stefan's benefit.

"Can we talk?" Bonnie asked her, and Rebecca wanted to say no.

Rebecca didn't know if she'd be able to stay in control of herself if she talked to Bonnie. The witch had pissed her off.

"Um . . . sure," Rebecca said.

Bonnie led Stefan and Rebecca outside of the hospital.

"What, Bonnie?"

Bonnie didn't seem surprised by the attitude, which was good because Rebecca didn't feel like apologizing for it.

"You and Elena are my best friends, and because of that I couldn't let you guys or Damon die in that fire," Bonnie said.

"We're very grateful," Stefan said. "I hope you know that."

"I do," Bonnie admitted. "But I hope _you_ know that things have to change. Damon has to change."

_Change what now?_ Rebecca wondered.

"We both want the same thing," Stefan said.

"Change what?" Rebecca still wanted to know.

"We both wanna protect the people we care about," Bonnie said. "The difference is, for you, Damon is one of them."

"Bonnie -" Rebecca started, only to be cut off.

"You saw what I was able to do tonight," Bonnie said. "I know who I am now, and if Damon spills so much as one _drop_ of innocent blood . . . I'll take him down. Even if I have to take _you_ with him."

Rebecca couldn't help it. She growled at the girl that used to be one of her best friends. Stefan had to grab her shoulders to keep her from going toward the witch.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Stefan said.

"Let's hope it doesn't."

Rebecca felt her face start to change - her jaw ached as she fought to keep her canines at their normal length.

"You wanna talk innocent blood?" Rebecca seethed. "Caroline is in there right now because of you. That stupid device went off and Tyler Lockwood heard it; that's why they had a car crash. This is _your_ fault."

Bonnie's face was open with shock. "What?"

"Yeah, so before you sit there and started judging _us_, you should take a closer look at yourself. Why did you _lie_, Bonnie?"

Bonnie couldn't say anything except for, "Grams wouldn't have done it, so I couldn't either."

Stefan still had Rebecca by the shoulders. "This is getting us nowhere. Bonnie, Rebecca . . . Caroline needs you both. Whatever happened, that's the important thing. Now I'm gonna call Elena and see what's keeping her. You guys -"

"Bonnie can go. I need to cool off first."

* * *

Rebecca stayed with Stefan while he talked to Elena. The brunette had lost her stuff. Her dress, her clothes, her purse.

_"I looked everywhere. Someone definitely took my stuff. I just gotta check on Jeremy before I come to the hospital."_

"We'll be waiting."

_"Okay. I love you, Stefan."_

"Love you too, Elena."

When Stefan was done talking to Elena, he looked at Rebecca. "You okay?"

Rebecca shrugged minutely. "I don't know. I feel like I should be doing something, I just don't know what. Everybody inside is upset, which makes _me_ upset, which I already am because Caroline is in there and she could die and -"

For the first time _ever_, she accepted a hug from Stefan Salvatore. Rebecca felt her eyes fill with tears. Everything was just so messed up on a monumental level. Bonnie had lied, Rebecca had killed someone, and Caroline was in surgery. Tyler was obviously something supernatural - what, Rebecca didn't know. The biggest thing of all, though, was:

"Stefan, I . . . I killed someone. I killed John. After . . . after we got Damon out I went for him and . . ."

Guilt and shame filled Rebecca's entire being. She'd thought getting rid of John Gilbert would be liberating, but it wasn't. No, she no longer had to worry about him messing with Chelsea, but . . . but now she had to worry about herself. She was a vampire and she had killed someone.

"Please don't tell Elena," Rebecca cried. "I need to tell her myself.

Rebecca saw Stefan look at her with disappointment in his eyes.

"Don't look at me like that. You knew it was going to happen. If I hadn't done it, Damon would have. It was _my_ sister he messed with," Rebecca swallowed thickly. "For what it's worth, I am sorry I killed someone. But I'm not sorry he's dead."

Rebecca moved away from Stefan's embrace, sorely missing Damon. Where was he? He needed to get here soon, she needed him.

Back inside Tyler was upset - more so than before.

"What now?" she asked gently. "What happened?"

"My dad," Tyler stated. "He's dead. I don't even - it happened tonight. In the fire."

"What?"

God, Rebecca couldn't take much more. She needed Damon with her. Now.

What if something had happened to him?

"I need to go," Tyler said.

Everyone understood. He needed to be with his mother.

Bonnie was off to the side with Matt, and she looked Rebecca's way. Rebecca ignored the witch's pleading look. Rebecca had no time for Bonnie right now.

Rebecca swallowed back a few sobs that wanted to escape. If she could just cry or scream or . . . bite someone . . . she would feel better.

There was still no news about Caroline, and neither Elena nor Damon were here yet. Which wasn't good because Damon would know what to do; he always knew what to do.

What was taking them so long? And why did Rebecca have the feeling that something other than the obvious was wrong?

* * *

Okay, here's the final chapter of Season One. So does anyone have any idea what I should call the second season?

Here's the game plan for my stories. I'm still going to update vampire diaries. I've got to figure out a name for the second season first, but I'm also going to be writing Supernatural again, so I'll be updating both. I'm not sure how many of you are Supernatural fans and how many have read my story for that, but I'm going to rewrite it - I know I'm on the third season of it, but I can't write if first person anymore, my brain won't work that way anymore - and will be redoing the chapters slowly but surely.

Love you guys!


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